Issue 25 by The Gadget Group

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ISSUE 25

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FAST FOREWORD

Copy that H

onestly, the home entertainment industry is its own worst enemy. No sooner do the electrons settle on a high definition format war and people start to feel confident about committing household funds to a new movie machine and a whole new library of discs than something newer, better, more fully featured comes along to confuse the bejesus out of them. Now, making sense of new technologies and products is our raison d’etre at Home Entertainment (and we don’t see ourselves running out of work any time soon), but while progress is a good thing it now means ‘upgrading’ to new hardware and software with ever increasing frequency. And we’re not made of money, for Chrissakes. Take Blu-ray. First generation players and software were not final spec, in that they didn’t yet integrate the full capabilities of the format. With the arrival of Profile 1.3 (BD Live) in 2008 you may have thought that was all sorted – Blu-ray has been onsale for three years now, after all. But you’d be wrong.

“If you want to benefit from the forthcoming two-in-one movie deal discs, then, you’ll need a new player” This was achieved only in June this year, with the finalisation of specifications relating to digital rights management on BD. This final spec means consumers will be able to make a single legit 1080p copy of a BD movie they have bought. The copy will be made as a Windows Media DRM video file to either a DVD or Blu-ray disc or portable player, and any copies will themselves be copy protected. Studios may also allow more than one copy to be made, and there’s provision for a charge to be applied to making a copy. The rub is that you won’t be able to make these copies using existing hardware. Not even the PS3. Why so? BD hardware and software makers must be licensed by the Advanced Access Content System License Authority (AACSLA) in order to market BD players and discs. They’ve been operating under provisional interim licenses till now, but will need

to update their license agreements to include this final spec by the beginning of 2010. If they don’t, they will not be allowed to produce discs. Hardware manufacturers don’t have to produce machines that support the new license, but will, inevitably, to remain competitive. If you want to benefit from the forthcoming two-in-one movie deal discs, then, you’ll need a new player. Software houses and hardware makers contacted by Home Entertainment – Sony, Sony Playstation, Fox, Paramount and Disney – would not comment on when Australia could expect to see the new discs and players or what pricing would be, the takeaway being it was premature to speculate on future technologies. In the US, discs with the ‘managed copy’ feature will hit the market by February 2010, with players expected by the end of June 2010. How managed copy will work in the home is not yet clear, but it may be activated by pressing buttons on the player, or by selecting an option from the disc menu. Either way, the player will need to connect to the internet to get authorisation from a server – run by a studio, distribution house or the AACSLA – to make the copy. This is similar to the Digital Copy scheme introduced by Twentieth Century Fox to some of its DVD and BD titles in the last 12 months. You load these discs into a computer then go online and enter a code unique to that disc before getting the OK to make a digital copy. The copy is standard definition, and will playback in just about all portable devices and computers. This includes iPods and iPhones, equipment that – because Apple has no licenses with Blu-ray – may not support the forthcoming BD managed copy scheme. In good news, your current library of BD discs should play back in the new machines. Cheers

Anika Hillery, Editor

Managing Director Valens Quinn valens@gadgetgroup.com.au Publisher Peter Blasina peter@gadgetguy.com.au Editorial Director Anika Hillery anika@gadgetgroup.com.au Art Director Bill Chan bill@gadgetgroup.com.au Advertising Director Athan Papoulias athanp@gadgetgroup.com.au Advertising Manager Nathan Yerbury nathan@gadgetgroup.com.au Australian Home Entertainment is published quarterly by The Gadget Group Pty Ltd, 120 Cathedral Street, Woolloomooloo, New South Wales, Australia 2011. Australian Home Entertainment is available for licensing overseas. Director Tony Read tony@gadgetgroup.com.au For further information, please contact The Gadget Group on +61 2 9356 7400 or email info@gadgetgroup.com.au Editorial Contributors Anthony Fordham, Nic Tatham, All care is taken in the compiling of this magazine,the editors and proprietors assume no responsibility for the effects arising therein. Thomas Bartlett, Max Everingham, Nathan Taylor, Colin Hinton Correspondence,manuscripts and photographs are welcome,and books, equipment and materials may be submitted for review.Although care is taken,the Printing The Quality Group editors and publisher will not accept responsibility for loss or damage to material submitted.The magazine is not aligned with any company or group within the Australian electronics industry.Its editorial policy is completely independent.Views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. Distributed by Gordon & Gotch www.gordongotch.com.au All rights reserved and reproduction without permission is strictly forbidden. Price on cover is recommended retail price only. ISSN 1327-0338 Copyright 2009

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CONTENTS AUGUST /SEPTEMBER 2009

18 28

22 38

FEATURES Pay TV’s Search Party

REGULARS 18 Random Play

You Wish

Finding something to watch in 100-plus channels of programming requires a powerful EPG, and Foxtel’s new online service ticks most of the boxes.

From Start to Furnish

Action Stations

Shack: Electronic Interiors 70 28 Digital Pictorial showcase of Australia’s award-winning home

Cheap and easy tips to help ensure your new kit is running at its best.

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Manley Laboratories’ tube-powered Stingray is the hi-fi catch of the day.

theatres and smart homes.

Gear Log

Ear, Eyes & Thumbs

Time Warp

A showcase of standout electronica.

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THE YEAR AHEAD

world’s News from show biggest gadget

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Home entertainment news and product highlights.

Watch, listen, play. Max Everingham’s roundup of the best movies, games and apps.

A retrospective of milestone entertainment products and technologies. This issue: Digital Audio Tape.

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Guy Talk

Tech Corner

Channel Seven’s GadgetGuy, Peter Blasina, reports today’s technology trends.

The National Broadband Network will signal the end of television as we know it and make PVRs obsolete, writes Anthony Fordham.

HOW TO BUY Out of the Box

Green Screens

With Blu-ray and wireless adding value and versatility, many home theatre in a box systems are better than their cheap and cheerful reputation.

With TV makers adopting different strategies to meet the government’s new energy rating scheme, Thomas Bartlett examines the different approaches being taken and explains the forthcoming labelling system.

Touch and Go: Smartphone Entertainers

A good smartphone allows you to watch, listen, create and share entertainment on the go, but which of today’s mobile marvels is the best all-rounder? Luke Coleman puts five to the test.

BOX FRESH REVIEWED THIS ISSUE LG 42LH50YD 42 Panasonic TH-P50X10A 43 Samsung UA40B7100 44 Sony Bravia KDL-40WE5 45 Toshiba REGZA 40CV550A 46 Integra DTS-30.1 48 Panasonic Viera TH-P50G10A 50 Tivo Home Networking Package and My DVR Expander 52 Linksys NMH405 54 Yamaha TSX130 56 Pure Avanti Flow 56

RANDOM PLAY

Wake up call It’s from Bang & Olufsen, so it should play music or display a picture, right? And it’s an alarm clock, so it should have a radio tuner built-in, right? The BeoTimer, in fact, does none of these – rather it’s a kind of time-keeping wand capable of switching on or off – according to programmed alarms and sleep times – any B&O TV or music system you might have in your bedroom so that you can wake up and fall asleep to the sights and sounds from said Danishbred gear. Useful in other areas of the home with B&O equipment, the BeoTime will also adjust volume levels, change tracks, stations and channels.

Disc spinner

Designed to partner with Denon’s flagship AVP-A1HDA preamp and POA-A1HD ten-channel power amplifier, the DVD-A1UD is the world’s first universal high-end disc player, according to the company. Priced at $9999, it supports Blu-ray, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, HDCD and SACD discs, plus there’s a card slot for playing DivX 6, JPEG, MP3 and WMA files directly from SDHC memory cards. Onboard decoders for the latest high resolution formats, as well as Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS NEO:6, are provided, and Denon’s Compressed Audio Restorer helps realise the best from compressed two channel MP3/WMA and Dolby Digital/DTS formats. Sound quality from stereo and mutilchannel soundtracks is enhanced further by the inclusion of Denon’s AL32 processing and 192kHz/32-bit D/A converters on all channels, and video output is advanced through the use of Advanced Silicon Optix Realty processing and Vertical Stretch technology. Another first for a Blu-ray player, this supports CinemaScope aspect ratio for anamorphic lenses, for movies that are as close to the original film presentation as possible.

DISTRIBUTOR

Menus are navigated via Bang & Olufsen the big centre button, with WEB www.bang-olufsen.com time, alarm time and alarm source displayed on small top-mounted panels. The BeoTime has a built in accelerometer too, so this information changes in orientation with how the flute-shaped clock is being held. The alarm is disabled by depressing a metal plunger at the end of the anodised aluminium tube, and the whole rig operates on three AAA batteries – which is kinda lo-tech for something that costs $575. Available from B&O stores in September.

DISTRIBUTOR

Audio Products Australia PHONE 1300 134 400 WEB www.denon.com.au

Seventh heaven Samsung follows up its 2009 LCD range with a seven-strong plasma line-up, comprising the Series 4, 5, 6, and 8. At 2.5cm thick, the flagship Series 8 is the world’s thinnest full HD plasma, according to Samsung, providing 600Hz Subfield motion processing for improved action scenes, a 3,000,000:1 contrast ratio for deeper blacks and more vibrant colour, an inbuilt subwoofer and the company’s new Medi@2.0 solution. This includes widgets for directly accessing specified internet sites, such as NineMSN; wireless DLNA for streaming movies, photos and music from your PC to the TV; USB 2.0 for playing video files, photos and music directly from flash memory and external hard drives onto the TV, and a built-in content library of games, recipes and exercises that can be updated with your own content or material from www.samsung.com.au. Surrounded by a distinctive black Crystal Design bezel and a sleek aluminium stand, the Series 8 comes in 127 cm and 147 cm sizes for $4299 and $5999 respectively. The full HD Series 6 integrates many of the same features – but in a chunkier profile – with pricing recommended at $3299 and $6999 for the 127 cm and 160 cm model respectively. The most affordable 1080p range is the Series 5,

DISTRIBUTOR

the 106 cm costing $2299 and the 160 cm $4299, both with a Samsung Electronics WEB www.samsung.com.au 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast and 600Hz Subfield Motion. The 106 cm and 127 cm models in the Series 4 are 1366 x 768 resolution and cost $1699 and $2199 respectively. According to Samsung, all 2009 plasmas contain no toxins such as lead or mercury, and use up to 50 percent less energy than equivalent size 2007 models.

RANDOM PLAY

Viva, Vivo

DISTRIBUTOR

NatComp International Corporation PHONE 02 9181 4402 WEB www.vi-vo.com

New electronics brand, Vivo, is marketing a range of sharp-priced televisions it says are “equally as impressive as the established brands”. Italian for ‘alive and vivid’ Vivo products are, according to Managing Director, Fabio Grassia, designed in Italy and manufactured in China, where components, assembly and quality control are supervised by staff at a dedicated Vivo office. Backed by Natcomp International Corporation, an Australian importer and supplier of AV and Consumer Electronic products since 1989, Vivo products include

seven LCD television models ranging from 46–132 cm (the 50, 55 and 66 cm models have inbuilt DVD players), with prices from $299–2199. Two portable DVD players (from $99) and a 106cm and 127cm plasma TV ($999 and $1799) complete the line-up, and all products include a oneyear warranty.

Dock and load The PDX-50 is an iPhone and iPod dock that transmits audio to a speaker unit using Yamaha’s Air Wired technology. This, says the company, is superior to other wireless forms such as Bluetooth with the

DISTRIBUTOR

Yamaha Music

PHONE 1300 739 411 ability to send PCM data WEB www.yamahamusic.com.au in real-time, resulting in significantly lower transmission delay and no requirement for pairing of devices. iPods and iPhone charge while docked, and control of volume and playlists is achieved via the player’s own jog wheel or the by selecting album art on the phone’s touchscreen. You can also make or receive calls on an iPhone while its docked in the transmitter, and the speaker unit provides 15 watts output from two 8cm drivers. Available in black, blue, grey and pink, the PDX-50 costs $499. Yamaha’s $249 PDX-30 speaker dock for iPod/iPhone provides similar features and operations to the PDX-50, but via direct docking rather than wireless transmission.

RANDOM PLAY

TV on a stick TEAC’s 48, 56 and 66 cm televisions each integrate an HD tuner and DVD player and offer the ability to record TV programming to a thumb drive or external hard drive directly from a built-in USB socket. Resolution tracks that of conventional computer monitors, with the smallest of the group providing 1440 x 900 pixels and the two larger screens offering 1680 x 1050 pixels. Each has a 16:10 widescreen aspect ratio, supports video signals up to 1080i standard, provides an HDMI DISTRIBUTOR input for connecting other digital TEAC PHONE 1300 769 824 video devices, and a card reader WEB www.teac.com.au (MMC, MS and SD) for playing

back downloaded music, movies and photos without having to burn them to disc. Priced at $899, $999 and $1299, each is covered by a 12 month warranty.

Perfect Micros with macro match music

DISTRIBUTOR

Panasonic Australia

DISTRIBUTOR

Sony Australia PHONE 1300 720 071 WEB www.sony.com.au

Whether you’re loving the playlist in your iPod or MP3 player, or re-living your mixed tapes and CD collection, Sony reckons its micro systems will have you covered. The CMTBX20iB combines CD playback, iPod dock and MP3 player connection (MP3/WMA/AAC formats supported), AM/FM radio tuner, sleep timer functions and 50 watts output for $399. The CMTEH25 combines radio and CD with USB playback, a tape deck and 10 watts RMS for $179, and the CMTLX30iR blends iPod docking, AM/ FM radio, USB playback and recording in a spiffy vertical design for $329.

PHONE 132 600 Panasonic’s RP-HJE240 WEB www.panasonic.com.au stereo earphones claim crisp, clear sound, a 6Hz–23kHz frequency response and a gold-plated plug. For added comfort, the earphones are supplied with three different-sized canal-shaped silicone earpieces, allowing you to choose the best fit for your ear. Available in a choice of metallic colours – black, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, silver and yellow – they are, according to Glenn Zanoni, Product Manager, Mobile AV, Panasonic Australia, “the perfect accessory for anyone with an iPod Nano, delivering outstanding sound with a stylish metallic design”. The RP-HJE240 cost $45 a pair.

RANDOM PLAY

Black and Blu Pioneer’s Blu-ray players have always sported premium pricing, and while this continues with its new BDP-LX52, the company now plays in the mainstream with its $599 entry level BDP-120. BD-Live capable, it comes with a USB port for downloading subtitles, images and bonus trailers when viewing select BD Live titles to compatible flash drives and hard disks. With this facility, viewers can also synchronise viewing with other BD-Live players and join in live chat sessions, online gaming and video messaging. The super-slim (58mm high) BDP-120 also introduces a Quick Start mode that slashes the time it takes to load and play discs – a mere 0.8 seconds from standby to start-up – and provides onboard

Hi-fidelity surround

Lending hi-fi cred to the home cinema world is Arcam’s AV888, a preamp the company says is the result of a two-and-a-half year ground-up development that “redefines both the feature set and sonic performance of high end AV processing and pre-amplification”. This involves Wolfson 8741 DACs on all seven channels, video processing using Pixelworks’ broadcast quality scaling and frame rate conversion, full RS232 and IR connectivity plus IP control, and a dedicated interface for control and audiophile playback of iPods (using Arcam’s rDock or rLead). Three zone outputs are provided, as are five HDMI inputs and two outputs, decoding for all high resolution Blu-ray surround sound formats, Dolby Volume for a constant volume level between different broadcast programming, internet radio capability and USB playback. Designed to mate with Arcam’s P777 power DISTRIBUTOR amplifier, the AV888 Absolute Audio Vision costs $9988. WEB www.absoluteaudiovision.com.au

DISTRIBUTOR

Electronics decoding for Dolby TrueHD and Pioneer WEB www.pioneer.com.au Dolby Digital Plus, DTS HD High Resolution and DTS HD Master Audio high resolution audio formats. This means you can connect the BDP12 to your existing surround sound receiver and enjoy the latest high resolution surround sound, rather than upgrade to a new HD receiver. The BDP-LX52 ($999) also has HD surround sound decoding onboard, and provides internal memory for BD Live, multichannel jitter-free audio, an RS232 port for easy integration with control systems such as AMX and Creston, and a Video Adjust mode that allows you fintune the image in 13 different ways. It costs $999.

TV tailoring Those Danish funsters who brought us the clock on a stick (page 6) have updated their BeoVision 7-40 LCD television, offering buyers the option of exchanging the unit’s integrated DVD player for a BD-Live Blu-ray drive in what then becomes the first combo of its kind we’re aware of. Designed for floor-placement, the full HD 101cm TV can also be upgraded with a high definition tuner and 100Hz processing to improve its performance on fast action scenes, plus there’s scope to further customisation, with two kinds of centre channel speaker, three motorised stand options and six colour choices. With Blu-ray player, the 7-40 costs $14,800. The 7-2 hi-fi stereo centre DISTRIBUTOR speaker or 7-4 surroundBang & Olufsen centre speaker adds $5700. WEB www.bang-olufsen.com

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GUY TALK

Simple no more H

DMI was introduced to simplify connections between digital devices – a single high quality cable that could take the place of up to nine analog audio and video cables and support the transfer of digital high definition video and multichannel sound. It just made sense, and as consumer electronics makers quickly integrated the connection into products, consumers also got onboard. Now common in video component, games consoles, TVs and even computers, cameras and camcorders, HDMI an industry success. But with the recent release of specifications for the latest iteration of HDMI, version 1.4, the simple ‘cable that could’ is poised to create a havoc of complexity for buyers as they struggle to choose between five different versions of the new cable.

Internet over HDMI First up, though, what enhancements does v1.4 offer? A full description of the seven key new capabilities can be found in the box below, with those of most interest including support for resolutions up to four times higher than 1920 x 1080p, accommodation of future 3D standards, and HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC). This last feature allows Ethernet to be carried – at a high speed 100Mbps – alongside video and audio in a HDMI cable, meaning you could share, say, a broadband connection from an internet-enabled TV with a PVR or games console – or vice versa – provided they all support HDMI HEC.

HDMI 1.4 SUMMARY The following details the enhancements offered by HDMI 1.4 and is taken from the official HDMI website at http://www.hdmi. org/press/press_release.aspx?prid=101). HDMI Ethernet Channel The HDMI 1.4 specification will add a data channel to the HDMI cable and will enable high-speed bi-directional communication. Connected devices that include this feature will be able to send and receive data via 100 Mb/sec Ethernet, making them instantly ready for any IP-based application. The HDMI Ethernet Channel will allow an Internet-enabled HDMI device to share its Internet connection with other HDMI devices without the need for a separate Ethernet cable. The new feature will also provide the connection platform to allow HDMI-enabled devices to share content between devices. Audio Return Channel The new specification will add an Audio Return Channel that will reduce the number of cables required to deliver audio upstream for processing and playback. In cases where HDTVs are directly receiving audio and video content, this new Audio Return Channel allows the HDTV to send the audio stream to the A/V receiver over the HDMI cable, eliminating the need for an extra cable. 3D Over HDMI The 1.4 version of the specification will define common 3D formats and resolutions for HDMI-enabled devices. The specification will standardize the input/output portion of the home 3D system and will specify up to dual-stream 1080p resolution.

4K x 2K Resolution Support The new specification will enable HDMI devices to support high-definition (HD) resolutions four times beyond the resolution of 1080p. Support for 4K x 2K will allow the HDMI interface to transmit content at the same resolution as many digital theaters. Formats supported include: 3840 x 2160 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz 4096 x 2160 24Hz Expanded Support For Color Spaces HDMI technology now supports color spaces designed specifically for digital still cameras. By supporting sYCC601, Adobe RGB and AdobeYCC601, HDMIenabled display devices will be capable of reproducing more accurate life-like colors when connected to a digital still camera. Micro HDMI Connector The Micro HDMI Connector is a significantly smaller 19-pin connector that supports up to 1080p resolutions for portable devices. This new connector is approximately 50% smaller than the size of the existing HDMI Mini Connector. Automotive Connection System The Automotive Connection System is a cabling specification designed to be used as the basis for in-vehicle HD content distribution. The HDMI 1.4 specification will provide a solution designed to meet the rigors and environmental issues commonly found in automobiles, such as heat, vibration and noise. Using the Automotive Connection System, automobile manufactures will now have a viable solution for distributing HD content within the car.

This is a terrific development, considering the number of components behind the home entertainment rack that now require Ethernet cable. It’s an acknowledgement also that, in the future, content will increasingly be sourced from online. This trend is already in play in the US, where Blockbuster has partnered with Samsung for ondemand movie services with Samsung’s internet-enabled TVs, and similar arrangements are in place between Netflix and LG, Amazon and Sony and Panasonic. The downside is that HDMI HEC and all the other enhancements of v1.4 are realised only on equipment that supports the v1.4 connection standard… and the local install base of HD gear is predominantly v1.3 or earlier. Buy a HEC-capable Blu-ray player and you won’t be able to share its broadband connection with your v1.3 TV. If you want that you’ll need a new TV that supports HEC over HDMI, plus HEC cables between the devices.

One cable, five-ways Just for fun, these HDMI HEC will come in two flavours – one supporting high data rates of up to 100Mbps, and the other low data rates. The first will connect 1080p sources such as Blu-ray players and games consoles to HD displays, while the latter will connect 1080i digital TV/Freeview and Pay TV set-top boxes, DVD players and audio equipment. There will also be two versions (high and low) of HDMI cable that support v1.4 enhancements but not Ethernet connectivity, plus a special cable specifically for use in cars. That’s five different HDMI cables. Five. With the exception of the incar cable, we don’t know why all the v1.4 fruit couldn’t be achieved in a single chunky wire - perhaps the engineering challenges were just too great. What we do know, however, is that we will need to be sure of which type of equipment we want to connect before going shopping for HDMI cables in the future. Complicating matters further is knowing which v1.4 functionality is supported by a cable or product. Do you get Ethernet and 3D in a cable, but no support for high resolutions and other enhancements? Or do you get the lot? It is not mandatory for manufacturers to support all the features of current iterations of HDMI in the products they market, and perhaps this will again be the case. As before, we’ll need to carefully read the packaging to be sure we’re getting the features we want. Products supporting HDMI v1.4 are expected in the US in early 2020, with compatible cables likely to hit the market at the same time. Pricing is unknown, but with the premium-grade one metre length of HDMI from Australia’s leading cable brand costing more than $300, we predict some truly heart-stopping stickers on highspeed HEC cables next year. n The GadgetGuy™, Peter Blasina, is the technology reporter for Channel Seven’s Sunrise program, appears regularly on other network programs and is broadcast weekly on various national radio stations.

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TECH CORNER

Pipe dreams T

he days of standing on a slippery tile roof trying in vain to get a UHF antenna to angle into the wind of a summer thunderstorm while someone shouts from a windows below “better... no, worse... better!” could at long last be at an end — and not because of digital TV. No, the era of broadcasting via an ultra high frequency radio transmission could soon be over, and indeed the whole concept of ‘broadcasting’ is being completely remodelled... by the internet. Anyone with a decent ADSL2+ plan will probably have been offered IPTV as part of their package. And the ABC’s iView offering has been promoted at length via the national broadcaster’s traditional channels. IPTV is, as the acronym suggests, like VOIP, except for TV. The Internet Protocol (or sometimes more generally known as the Information Protocol) is a standardised method of transmitting data via the net. It makes no distinction between a web page, a text document, an audio conversation or a streaming video file. This means the internet, using IP, can carry your favourite TV channels, in anything from massively compressed, YouTube style snippets to full 1080i (or indeed 1080p) high definition. What’s more, because IPTV gets to your display via a PC, it can benefit from all the clever tricks a PC can do. EPGs are pretty basic for IPTV — the real benefit here is content on demand. Watch Gadget Guy’s latest segment when you want, not when the network wants. Re-watch last week’s episode of your favourite drama whenever you feel like it. Indeed, devices such as hard drive recorders are rendered obsolete by IPTV. Why record when you can simply click on a thumbnail of the program you want to watch? IPTV needs software to work. This can be as simple as an embedded player in your preferred web browser, and that’s fine if you want to get a quick cricket score in a tiny window on your desktop. On the couch in front of a big TV though, you need something a little more elegant. A sleek interface, and compatibility with a universal remote, for a start. Something that turns the files and folders of a PC environment into a more recognisable TV-like channels model. One free software package is Boxee. This application really shows off the capabilities of IPTV, since it does so much more than just flick through channels. Boxee actually links your TV content with your preferred social networks. You can have your Twitter account automatically update what you’re watching. You can see what your friends are watching, and receive recommendations. And

of course you can comment on your current program and send recommendations in turn out to your friends. It’s important not to confuse IPTV with simply watching movie files store on your hard drive. IPTV programming isn’t physically loaded on to your PC — rather, it’s streamed via your ISP from a central server. You need to specifically point your PC to that server, either using software or by visiting a specific web address (such as abc. net.au/iview). And this is where IPTV, for all its promise, runs afoul of its first real challenge. As users of Skype and other VOIP applications will know, streamed communication is good but can suddenly drop out, or skip, or stutter. This is because the internet operates on what’s called a ‘shared core’. To explain: the segment of the electromagnetic spectrum that carries free-to-air TV broadcasts is reserved specifically for those broadcasts. If you build a radio and start squirting out a transmission in TV’s reserved space, you’ll be slapped with a fine. When Channel 7 broadcasts on its frequency, there’s nothing else on that frequency, by law. The internet, on the other hand, is not so much free-to-air as free-for-all. PCs on the net send out a request for a ‘packet’ of IP data, and receive that packet more or less when the internet gets a chance to send it. It’s not quite ‘first come, first served’ but it’s close. Fortunately, the total bandwidth of the internet is so huge that these requests usually happen so fast you don’t realise you’re actually in a queue at all. But when you’re streaming a high definition TV program, you’re requesting a lot of packets all at once. If traffic on the net suddenly spikes, your TV show could be delayed in the queue, and the image will stutter or even hang. The solution to this is more bandwidth. And that’s where the National Broadband Plan (NBN) will help. With fatter pipes to everyone’s household, more data can be sent more quickly, making the streaming of high bandwidth content — like HDTV — practical. At the moment, the average ADSL user can’t really stream an HD program. SD or compressed streams are fine. But what about the content itself? Like everything, it needs to be licensed by the people who create it. In the US, a service called Hulu offers hundreds of different shows for free, at the click of a mouse button. Hulu isn’t available in Australia yet, but services like the ABC’s iView do give a taste of things to come. TV when you want it, how you want it. Sure beats worrying about whether you’ve programmed the PVR properly... Anthony Fordham

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When you have more than 57 channels, only a powerful EPG will tell you if there’s really nothing on. Anika Hillery roadtests Foxtel’s new online guide.

attractions, too, including HD channels launched last year, interactive and on-demand services and, in November this year, more high definition channels to challenge the new digital channels promised from Seven and Nine by year’s end.

ree TV networks and Pay TV operators are battling for the eyeballs of Australia and the handsome revenues they deliver from advertisers. Both camps are under pressure from the internet, with advertisers looking for new audiences online and the forthcoming National Broadband Network promising to, eventually, bypass traditional television entirely by delivering entertainment content directly into households. For the free-to air players, the future looks even more competitive, with changes to legislation likely to see the entry of a fourth and even fifth terrestrial operator. Australia’s largest Pay TV provider, Foxtel, has expressed ambitions to be one of these. To shore up their audiences, the free-to-air and pay TV operators (Optus, Austar, Foxtel and SelectTV) are being forced to put more money into programming and marketing. For example, the Freeview group, backed by ABC, SBS, Nine, Ten and Seven, is in the middle of a multi-million dollar campaign promoting more channels, for free. It’s a clear snipe at Australia’s largest Pay TV operator, Foxtel, which charges up to $120 a month for some of its content packages. But for consumers who value choice, Freeview’s 15 channels are a poor alternative to the 100-odd available from Foxtel. Foxtel, for its part, is being aggressive with the deals being offered to subscribers, and its iQ and IQ2 recorder boxes have gone a long way to increasing its customer base, which now stands at nearly 1.6 million. There are other

Foxtel’s latest tilt at attracting the attention of potential consumers is a revamped website that presents video promos of key programming highlights, the ability to manage accounts online and, most usefully, an updated EPG that enables effective search of its vast channel offering married to a convenient Remote Record function. It’s currently accessible only by computer or WAP/3G mobile phone, but the same interface is planned for the big screen in your lounge room by November, according to CEO Kim Williams. A powerful EPG is the key to winnowing the wheat from the chaff in any content universe, and Foxtel’s effort is an excellent step up from the previous implementation. It’s also a good template for Freeview to follow with its forthcoming EPG, allowing consumers to locate programs of interest, not by individual channels as they are forced to now, but by content across all channels – including online content, such as iView video. To achieve this, however, the commercial Freeview networks will need to abandon their ‘silo’ approach to program schedules, but this risks sending eyeballs to their competitors in the terrestrial broadcasting space. So, like, that’s ever going to happen. Of course, a schmick and convenient EPG alone is not going to convince someone to become a Foxtel subscriber – or to buy a Tivo, Beyonwiz, Topfield or Freeview receiver – but it will help current users ‘ stay the path’. We took it for a walk.

Seek and ye shall find

Day 1: Getting started

The online EPG can be viewed by subscribers and non-subscribers under What’s On/TV Guide at www.foxtel.com.au, but for scheduling remote recordings from the guide to a set-top box a subscriber needs to set up a My Foxtel account. This means registering a user name, password and your account number from the home page, which sounds very straight forward…. but wasn’t. The system insisted that one or more fields of information I was entering was incorrect (not the requisite number of letters

and numbers), but after several attempts it appeared that some of my information had been recorded as the system would no longer accept any variation of my first and last name, and my email address was, apparently, in use by someone else. It also wouldn’t accept the account number on my last bill – although this was stated as accepted identification – only the smart card number from my set-top box, a high definition 320GB IQ2. All up a frustrating half-hour spent, with no apparent progress made.

Foxtel’s online EPG provides comprehensive forward programming information and the ability to schedule recordings to your IQ remotely, from a computer at the office or the other side of the world.

PAY TV’S SEARCH PARTY

Day 3: Traps for young players

Day 2: Search

Before resorting to a customer service phone call – Foxtel handles 60,000 a month according to Kim Williams – I tried the registration process once more, this time logging in under one of the user name/password variations of the day before. It worked (!), with the home page welcoming me by name. Select What’s On/TV Guide and a table listing of all the Foxtel and rebroadcast network channels – in numerical order – appears on the left of the screen, with programming for each presented horizontally by timeslot. Simply tab across and down for more listings, or change channels by selecting Previous or Next Channel. You can search programming on all channels, on a single channel, by time (Today, Tomorrow, Next 14 Days), and genre. When typing in the name of a program you want to search for, be sure to change the default search period from ‘Today’ to ‘Next 14 Days’. We spent a frustrating few minutes trying to work out why a search for a show we knew to be on yielded no results, until we worked that one out. Also, type carefully — the system is not intuitive about creative spelling. Once you’ve located the program you want in the EPG, just drag and drop it into the ‘Remote Record Queue’ on the righthand side of the screen. If you can’t do this, and the space is occupied by an ad, your session has timed out. You don’t get any warning of this, or advice that this has happened. Fortunately, the system remembers your choices and presents them to you when you log in again. Select ‘Record’ and your instructions are forwarded to your set-top box. In most cases, they will appear in your iQ’s onscreen Planner immediately... except none of ours did. The reason for this revealed itself entirely by accident.

IQ RECORDING, THE BAD OLD WAY Alternatives to Foxtels’ new online program guide include a monthly magazine (available to select subscribers) and an onscreen electronic program guide (EPG). The magazine presents at-a-glance highlights of the forthcoming month plus friendly graphical cues, whereas the linear-style EPG provides limited search facilities, no intelligence and little program information. To effectively browse upcoming programs and schedule recordings, then, you need to use the magazine and the EPG in tandem. The substitute method is to schedule a recording into an IQ’s Planner immediately upon seeing an advertisement for that program of interest.

When I upgraded to the high definition IQ2 service a year ago, ‘Ben’ scored our old IQ box. This has allowed him to enjoy a Platinum Package for a bargain $15-ish a week. Ben is the biggest blagger in the world. Shortly after my first stab at using Foxtels’s new Remote Recording, Ben phoned to complain that he couldn’t get the sport channels any more – you can make changes to your account online via My Foxtel too, so I killed them – and to say that a bunch of “random” shows just appeared on his box. He deleted them all of course, cursing Foxtel for its inexplicable acts of weirdness. So owners of multiple boxes, take note: there’s a ‘Record To’ tab on the bottom of the Remote Record Queue column where you can nominate the box to record to. Boxes are identified by default as IQ1 and IQ2, but if you have two or more of either then you need to go into My Foxtel/Account Settings and identify each via their smart card numbers. While here, you can rename the boxes, like Holiday House, Jen’s Room, or Blagger.

DAY 4: Recording

Revisiting the recording process revealed more depth to the EPG. Highlight a program and you’re presented with a short synopsis and, in some cases, a more useful extended synopsis. Cast and production credits link to other programs in the EPG with the same actors or directors, and you can also locate programs of the same genre and rating within the EPG via simple links from the synopsis. Links to related sites are provided, with the Rotten Tomatoes user review site providing independent movie ratings. The iSuggest function presents movies it thinks are similar to the program you’ve selected (results seem to be genre-based), and if you’ve programmed a recording clash the system will suggest alternative viewing times as a workaround. ‘Quick Search’ allows you to locate programs under broad category headings such as Family Movies, Live Sport, Premiers, Series Link programs, while Advanced Search defines the process further, allowing to you specify closed captioning, high definition programs or shows with specified ratings.

Day 5: Verdict

Foxtel’s online EPG is a welcome advance for subscribers looking for something to watch in this “57 channels and nothing on” world. The interface makes it easy to locate programs on channels you wouldn’t usually visit, and the supporting material enables you to decide whether its worth spending time with or not. Most significantly, mated to a PVR it provides a boxful of time-shifted programming for you to consume whenever you like, free of all schedules but your own. We would like, however, to know how much hard disk capacity programs selected for recording will consume, so that we don’t exceed the capacity of our IQ boxes. In conventional Foxtel parlance, a half-hour standard definition program consumes around ‘1 percent’ of storage and a movie around 3 percent, so it shouldn’t be hard for the company to estimate the demands of each program in the EPG. And with it so easy to record from across the entire Foxtel offering, an expansion drive to beef up the current 320GB capacity maximum of the IQ2 would be welcome too. It would also allow me to do more nice things for Ben. Like ensuring that, when he returns from holiday, his IQ is full of highlights from the Hallmark channel. n

COMPETITION

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Powered by mains or batteries, this portable DAB+ and FM receiver also provides internet radio via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, plus music streaming from a computer. Alarm clock functions and a connection for an iPod, CD or MP3 player are sweet extras.

Tell us in 25 words or less, if you were the boss of a new digital radio station what sort of station would it be? Talk or music? What sort of music? Anything – you’re the boss, it’s your radio station! Answer online at www.gadgetguy.com.au • ENTRIES CLOSE 10 NOVEMBER 2009 Details on how to enter, as well as competition terms and conditions can be found at www. gadgetguy.com.au by clicking the Competition graphic on the right-hand side of the home

page. The competition is open to all permanent residents of Australia and there is no limit to the number of entries a single person can make. The competition comprises two prizes totalling

$1298. Prize value is in Australian dollars and is the recommended retail value as provided by the supplier and is correct at the time of printing.

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

Manley Labs Stingray A

dherents to tube sound are an unconventional crowd, prepared to contend with high maintenance equipment that runs hot, is inefficient and, in modern terms, underpowered – all for the notional reward of sound with exceptional warmth and richness. To those of the faith, these characteristics can’t be matched by equipment relying on integrated circuits; gear that, less controversially — but just as subjectively — also falls short on visual appeal. Most valve amplifier equipment is certifiable eye candy, you see; the tubes all sparkle and filament, with an overarching charm that mixes the quaintly-relic with the edgily retro. The Stingray from US-based Manley Laboratories throws a radical, 10-plus kilogram hexagonal chassis into the blend, and unlike the marine denizen for which it is named, the Stingray ain’t one to let get away. Its shape, for starters, is not just a gimmick. Although there is a fishy naming theme to Manley products – more on that below – the design of the Stingray stereo integrated amp supports a well-considered and unique topology. In summary, the arrangement of capacitors, resistors, transformers, power supply, wire, tubes, input and output stages is such that it ensures the shortest, most direct path for any audio signal. In theoretical performance terms, this inflicts the least amount of variation – aka distortion – to the audio signal, and allows for pure and transparent reproduction of the original music.

This design approach is the lovechild of Manley Labs boss, the rock’n’roll-loving, mountain-climbing EveAnna Manley, who started working for the company in the late 1980s as a 20-yearold. She conceived the Stingray in 1998 and then continued to innovate with other quirkily-named products such as the VoxBox and Massive Passive, adding to the company’s core business of tube-based professional products – microphone preamps, monobloc amps, equalisers, mixers – a consumer hi-fi marque with real personality. Because Manley Labs’ gear is fun. It’s not po-faced and precious and Wagnerian, like the valve gear locked behind glass in the backroom of your dealer’s show rooom. It’s for ‘everyman’ music, every day – and there’s a fair amount of bait in the Manley tackle box if you fancy throwing a line in. A 100 watt Snapper monobloc amp, for instance, a Steelhead phono stage and Shrimp preamplifier, plus the Mahi 40 watt monobloc amplifier. You need two for stereo, of course, which is how we arrive at the catch of the day, the Mahi Mahi (and the final nautical pun, we promise). Back to the Stingray, and power output is a rated 40 watts, so you’ll do best mating it with sensitive bookshelf speakers and audio sources that are its quality equal. Be aware, though, that it bears the warm blooded signature of all valve equipment, consuming 200 watts when idle and 370 watts in full voice – which is as much as most 42 inch plasma televisions. The Stingray costs a dollar shy of $3600, and for injecting a warm analog glow to your digital playlist, look out for the forthcoming Manley Stingray iTube, with iPod dock.

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FROM START

TO FURNISH

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR SETUP

ou’ve hauled and sweated and stacked and plugged and switched and now you’re ready to sit back and enjoy some hard-earned entertainment. And because you’ve spent so much time and money, you want to get the best experience possible. Here then, is ten tips to enhance your entertainment and ensure your new kit is running at its best.

1. THE SUN IS YOUR ENEMY Natural light and home entertainment don’t mix! Even with a bright LCD TV, keep the TV away from sunbeams and light reflections. Low light makes ambient colours more vivid. If your room is pitch black though, the TV can seem too intense: investigate theatre mode settings and light sensor options for automatic balancing based on ambient light

2. THERE IS A PERFECT SURROUND LAYOUT! Your surround speakers should come with a diagram showing the ideal layout. The centre speaker should go under or immediately above the TV, the front pair should be set quite wide apart – but not too wide! The rear speakers should be positioned to the either side of the seated viewer, and at ear height. The sub can be located just about anywhere – move it around the room until you find a place it sounds best – but placement along a wall or in a corner tends to create overly boomy bass.

5. KNOW WHEN TO USE IMAGE ENHANCEMENT TVs and AV receivers all have various video enhancement modes. The rule is: the higher definition the native source, the less image processing you should use. Standard definition DVDs should be upsampled, and have theatre mode applied, but Blu-ray discs should be viewed ‘straight’. With 100Hz picture smoothing, sport and TV broadcasts will look great, but a movie might look odd because we’re used to watching movies at 24 frames a second – not 100! If you don’t like the effect, turn it off.

6. KEEP EVERYONE FRONT AND CENTRE If you have a massive home theatre se-up, it’s better to have two rows of seating than one really wide row. The further a person has to sit to the side of a TV or projector, the worse the image and the more unbalanced the surround sound. There is a ‘perfect’ seating position: right in front. But sitting further back from the TV is better than having to sit out to the side.

7. INVESTIGATE PICTURE MODES Most TVs ship with a ‘vivid’ or ‘dynamic’ picture mode enabled by default: this looks best in the brightly lit showroom. At home, vivid colours can look over-the-top and unnatural. There are several pre-programmed picture modes, and you can also tweak colour, contrast and brightness to your own liking. Theatre or

3. STAND UP FOR SOUND RIGHTS Movie soundtracks are more convincing when sound is fired directly at the listening position, so locate bookshelf and satellite speakers on stands with the tweeters in line with your seated ear height. Sturdy stands will also help reduce the resonances that can occur when speakers vibrate against a surface, such as a bookshelf or tabletop.

4. LOW LIFE Turning the subwoofer up too loud is the most common mistake when setting up for surround sound. The sub should blend seamlessly with the other speakers in your system, so turn it up high enough that you can hear it clearly over the other speakers, then wind it down slightly until you can no longer isolate the bass output.

Optimise surround effects by positioning speakers correctly in your viewing room.

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cinema mode drops back colour intensity for a more subtle and natural look: ideal if the room is dark.

8. YOUR TV IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS SOURCE As much as we want the whole world to be HD, we’re not there yet. You might have a 70 inch 1080p TV, but sometimes you’re just going to have to watch SD program material on it. If a picture looks grainy or pixellated, don’t worry that your TV isn’t doing a good job. SD content is what it is, and your tech will only be able to improve it to a limited extent. Look for HD content, and realise that at the moment only Blu-ray or downloaded 1080p movies will let your HDTV perform to its true potential.

9. STAY WIRED The cables that come ‘free’ with your electronic components or speakers are the cheapest and nastiest variety available,

and upgrading them is often the quickest way to improve performance. Swap out composite and S-Video cables for component and HDMI where your system provides for it, and while we recommend avoiding the super cheap brands, there’s no need to buy super-expensive cables either.

Take some care to find the ‘Goldilocks’ in your subwoofer by tuning its output to the rest of your speakers – not too loud, not too soft, but just right.

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10. HIDE YOUR SOURCES! Shuttering all your sources away in a cabinet isn’t just neat, it has a real benefit. Any source with moving parts — Blu-ray, PVR, games console — will make noise. Consoles in particular are very noisy, because of cooling fans. Hiding them all away will help block that noise. Some sources that rely on IR remotes may need line-of-sight, but you might be surprised: a frostedglass cabinet will let IR signals through and block noise at the same time!

11. BEWARE OF FLASHING LIGHTS! Thumbdrives and external hard drives are a great source for downloaded movies, music and photos. But many have the irritating habit of flashing an LED to show that data is being accessed, and this can drive you mad when watching! Not many of them have the option to turn off the light, so either cover it or copy the content to your PVR, games console or media server rather than watching it directly off the USB device.

12. KNOW YOUR REMOTES! Cycling through a dozen menu options to change video modes or select a source? Learn your remote: there is often a dedicated button for every task. It might not be intuitive, but once you learn it, switching or changing options becomes so much faster!

you need, provide helpful graphics for identifying equipment and stations, plus customisable macro features for carrying out several operations with just a single button press.

14. SURGE PROTECTION Major electricity users on your grid switching power on or off, or lightning striking the wrong transformer can cause a power surge that could fry your entire circuit and damage your expensive electronic entertainment gear. Plugging everything into a quality surge protector gives you peace of mind. In the extremely unlikely event of a power spike big enough to get to the wall socket, the protector will trip and those nasty electrons will be kept out of your gear.

15. HOME MAKER Pay some attention to the acoustics in your viewing room. Hard floors and glass reflect sound, which can be helpful for enhancing ambience from rear effects speakers, but it can also make for sound that is overly bright and harsh. Adding rugs, or thick curtains and cushions upholstered in heavy fabrics will help dampen the sound and improve overall performance. n

13. BACK IN CONTROL If the number of remotes you need to operate your system is just too out of control, a universal learning remote can massage all their functions into a single handset, as well as control lights and blinds. The latest remotes connect to the web for automatic download of all the codes

A powerful learning remote can be programmed to operate all your audio-visual equipment, as well as IR-controlled blind and lighting systems.

Cabinets with frosted glass doors conceal components and isolate noise, without compromising IR control of your gear.

Only Panasonic’s High Definition advantage* lets you...

SHOOT

STORE

Shoot pictures and High Definition videos on your Lumix camera or camcorder

Share on your VIErA big screen TV

Store on your Blu-ray Disc ( TM) Recorder

Panasonic’s High Definition advantage makes shooting, sharing and storing your High Definition photos and videos a snap. Simply slip your SD card out of your camera or camcorder and into the SD card slot of your VIErA TV, and there are your pictures, or High Definition videos brilliantly displayed on the big screen. Show your latest holiday snaps to friends, play back family videos, use your VIErA TV as a super-size digital photo frame or deliver a living message to a special someone … the sharing possibilities are endless. And because your memories are so precious, Panasonic makes storing them easy. Simply slip your SD card into the SD card slot of your Panasonic Blu-ray or High Definition DVD recorder, then burn to a Blu-ray or DVD disc**. To get the most out of your digital memories shoot, share and store with Panasonic. *This feature is only available on selected Panasonic products.

*AVCHD Lite video recording only available on Lumix cameras DMC-FT1, DMC-TZ7 & DMC-FZ35. AVCHD video recording only available on Lumix cameras DMC-GH1 and camcorders HDC-TM200, HDC-HS200, HDC-SD20 and HDC-HS20. Only available on Viera models Z, V, G, S & X10 Plasma/LCD TV’s. Compatible on Blu-ray Recorders DMR-BW750 and DMR-BW850 and High Definition DVD Recorders DMR-XW350 and DMR-XW450. **Archive in Standard Definition (SD) only. WARNING: The Copyright Act 1968 does not permit the unrestricted use of this recorder to copy films, sound recordings or broadcasts to any recording media. The Act only permits to copy broadcasts for private and domestic purposes in limited circumstances. Panasonic does not authorise any use of this recorder in any way which may amount to a breach of any law or the rights of any owner of copyright in film or broadcast. Blu-ray Disc and (logo), BONUS-VIEW, BD-Live logo are all trademarks of Blu-ray Disc Association. Lumix and VIErA are trademarks of Panasonic Corporation.

ACTION STATIONS

The new sound of the airwaves is gaining momentum, with more radio stations now broadcasting in digital and more DAB+ equipment in stores. Anthony Fordham surfs the digital radio landscape.

ood things come to those who wait. At least, that’s the message from Commercial Radio Australia as digital radio completes its initial roll-out to capital cities across the country. It means more channels, more features, but most of all it means no more terrible, terrible AM sound from your favourite talk stations – stations that make up nearly 50 percent of Australia’s radio audience. If you’ve been holding off on a digital radio purchase because all you could pick up were test broadcasts, take heart. Commercial and national broadcasters are on the air now, with simulcasts of many FM and AM stations, and several entirely new channels.

Digital stations First, the familiar: ABC broadcasts the now confusinglynamed Classic FM, NewsRadio, Radio National, Grandstand and the capital city station (such as 702 Sydney or 891 Adelaide) as simulcasts with traditional AM and FM channels. Triple J too now has a digital simulcast. New stations include ABC Dig Music, ABC Country and ABC Jazz, which until now have been broadcast using the digital TV network, receivable only as a ‘radio’ channel on a TV or set-top box. Meanwhile, SBS broadcasts its national radio service, simulcast with its existing FM and AM services.

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… And sub-stations Your new DAB+ radio can also tune in to the major commercial networks - simulcasts of familiar FM and AM stations in your capital city are up now, such as Sydney’s 2GB and Melbourne’s 3AW. The major FM music stations are there too, including MIX, Nova, Fox/2Day and Triple M. Essentially, if there’s a big station broadcasting on FM or AM in your capital city, it now has a DAB+ digital simulcast: have your DAB+ unit scan for new stations, and your old favourite should appear, with very few exceptions. However, you’ll also discover some new stations on your digital dial. Koffee is a DAB+ music network that aims to offer “time to chill” – low impact music for relaxing. Novanation is more or less the reverse, advertising 24/7 digital dance music to keep you bopping at all hours. Radar and The Edge are ‘themed’ stations, offering R&B/Hip Hop and undiscovered independent acts respectively. As far as digital-only stations are concerned, it’s still early days. Commercial Radio Australia, which oversees the DAB+ roll-out, is still focused on ensuring the new slice of the radio spectrum is working properly, especially in topographically-challenged Sydney, where creating a whole new radio network is a lot more complicated than just throwing up a transmitter and plugging it in.

The nature of DAB+ means each broadcaster can ‘slice up’ their section of the spectrum as they see fit. The maximum 192kbps of bandwidth can be divided among numerous channels or offer features besides audio, such as playlist information, traffic reports, or news headlines – though much of this still remains in the realm of possibility, rather than being something you can access right now. The current trend is toward genre-specific mini-stations, slices of bigger networks. If you want to listen to only House dance music, you’ll be able to tune to a House sub-station. Naturally these stations will exist only where demand exists. Larger commercial networks will experiment with various offerings, but as always audience behaviour will determine how far from the traditional model the commercial stations will venture. ABC and SBS both promise more specific-interest stations to join their new digital stations “soon”. One of the great things about digital radio is its essential compatibility with online streaming. Instead of randomly twiddling a dial to see what station is where, you can visit the station’s website, see a playlist, sample a live stream (or listen all day via your web browser), and read up on the station’s mission statement and find out about any upcoming special events or programs.

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DAB+, FM, steroclock radio with iPod dock

The CRA’s digital website, digitaradioplus.com.au, allows you to search for stations in your area by entering your postcode. Links to the website or each station then provide more information.

DON’T MISS A THING: AUTO-TUNE YOUR DAB+ RADIO As new digital radio stations switch on, receivers should be auto-tuned. By doing a full scan of your radio regularly you won’t miss any new stations. Check the owners manual that came with your DAB+ radio for instructions on how to do perform and auto scan, or check out the summaries on the link below:

http://www.digitalradioplus.com.au/files/ uploaded/file/Radios/Re-tuning%20your%20 digital%20radio.pdf

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“Most stations are broadcasting well below this theoretical upper limit – Triple J for instance currently has a 72kbps stream” Grundig DAB+ retro radio

DAB+, FM, headphone socket, line-out, AC/DC adaptor $249 DAB+ is currently available in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. If you live in Darwin, Canberra or Hobart, or indeed in any regional area, the CRA’s digitalradioplus.com.au website isn’t exactly optimistic about when you’ll be able to receive DAB+: the site encourages you to “contact your Federal member” to put pressure on the government to complete the roll-out to the 40 percent of the population currently missing out on digital radio.

readout, as a percentage. You may also see a kilobits-per-second bitrate readout. Finally, even though your signal is digital, it is using a VHF signal: the actual frequency may be displayed, and it will be a very unusual frequency for radio. Triple J in Sydney for instance, broadcasts DAB+ at 206.35MHz. You may need to fiddle around with your radio’s display options to see this information, but that’s part of the fun of a new toy!

Tuning in So let’s say you’re lucky enough to live in one of the chosen cities, you’ve bought a neat little DAB+ receiver, and you’re ready to listen to some digital. You follow the tuning guide in the manual, and a whole bunch of stations spring up on the menu. How do you know you’re actually listening to DAB+, and not FM or AM? Fortunately, receivers have DAB+ as an entirely separate ‘mode’, similar to switching between FM and AM on a traditional radio. When you’re in DAB+ mode, you can only tune in to digital stations. If you’re still not sure, there are a few other signs. Digital stations display the station name when tuned in – though some FM radios can do this too. You’ll also see a ‘signal strength’ bar or

Most metropolitan radio stations are simulcasting in DAB+, and there is a handful of stations that are unique to digital.

Pure ONE Elite

DAB+, FM, pause and rewind live broadcasts, auxiliary input, sleep timer, battery and AC power $299

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Revo iBLIK RadioStation

DAB+, FM, Internet radio, Wi-Fi music streaming PC, iPod dock, alarm clock, headphone socket, line-out $449

How’s it sound?

DAB+ kit for sale

The biggest negative to today’s digital radio is, ironically, audio quality. Okay, so listening to an AM station’s DAB+ simulcast is a massive improvement, but FM still has the edge when it comes to music. The maximum possible bitrate of a DAB+ broadcast is 192kbps, which gives excellent audio quality thanks to the AAC+ format’s compression algorithm (it’s considerably more efficient than MP3). However, most stations are broadcasting well below this theoretical upper limit – Triple J for instance currently has a 72kbps stream. Triple J’s FM signal sounds much fuller and more detailed than the DAB+ signal, and this problem is exacerbated when you consider most DAB+ receivers are clock radios, with small internal speakers and good but not spectacular DACs. DAB+ audio will not impress an audiophile who owns a quality FM receiver and lives in an area with good FM reception. However, the static-free DAB+ will be a huge relief to those who have suffered terrible radio reception for years because they live behind a slight rise in the land, or similar topographical feature. Speaking of which, you may find that in-car receivers may have trouble in tunnels or very deep in high-rise. Unlike FM, you won’t get static warning of a deteriorating signal, the radio will simply cut out. However, it will also snap right back in again as you drive free of whatever was obstructing the signal.

In terms of actual sales, the CRA boasts that the uptake of the first generation of DAB+ receivers has been excellent. The organisation says many retailers are already placing reorders, and this is just for simple clock-radio style units with fairly average audio quality. DAB+ units are somewhat more expensive than an oldfashioned tranny: even the entry-level models cost $150. A $300 unit will give you a larger display and more information about the signal, and most also come with FM receivers (though not many with AM) and there are plenty with iPod dock functionality too. The traditional players in AV have been content to let lesserknown brands such as Pure and Bush snare the early-adopters, but TEAC and Yamaha now have units in the market and we can expect the usual suspects to launch their own products in the lead-up to Christmas. Again though, the focus so far is on integrated units, rather than something you can slip in to a serious AV rack. Tech-heads can combine a PC DAB+ receiver with a USB DAC for improved audio quality, but so far the focus is on simplicity and mobility. In-car radios resemble GPS units, sticking to the windscreen with a suction cap. Higher-end units offer time-shift ability, but since there’s only one receiver, you’ll have to be satisfied with pausing and rewinding, rather than the simultaneous recording and watching shenanigans you’re used to on your PVR.

Pure Evoke 2S with i10 dock

Stereo DAB+ and FM radio, optional iPod dock, Wi-Fi, OLED, alarm and timers, built-in subwoofer $798

Just the beginning The CRA maintains that Australia’s emergent DAB+ network is one of the most solidly designed in the world. But it’s still early days for digital radio. You can jump in right now, but it’s important to remember that this is the very beginning of what will be the radio standard for the future. Don’t expect DAB+ to eclipse FM in every possible way, and you won’t be disappointed. Spare a thought for poor old AM though. That scratchy, muffled, distorted mono signal has served us so well, for so long. But DAB+ kills it stone dead. It really does. n

HOW TO BUY

When you want to get into home entertainment but need to learn more, our How to Buy section is the perfect starting point. Our expert advice and buying tips will help put you in the know before you venture onto the shop floor.

HOW TO BUY Out of the box

As the setup that ignites many a home cinema habit, home theatre in a box systems continue to have strong appeal, with Blu-ray and wireless speakers adding new versatility.

Green screens

All TVs will soon be rated for energy efficiency, but what will the labels mean and how much can you save by buying an eco TV? Thomas Bartlett explains the scheme and puts five flat panels to the green test.

Touch and Go: Smartphone entertainers Today’s touchphones don’t just talk, they are mobile entertainment larders that allow you to watch, listen and create while on the go. We examine five mobile marvels to see which handset does it all, the best.

BOX FRESH

Reviewed in this Issue

59 OUR RATINGS The Home Entertainment star rating system indicates how any given product compares to other products in the same category and price range. A $1000 product that earns a five star rating, for example, is not directly comparable to a $10 000 product from the same category – the ratings are specific only to the product category and price range of the product under review. Products are rated for feature set, performance, price and ease of use. Where stated, an ‘Overall’ rating is an average of these criteria.

Poor

Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

Fair

Good Excellent Reference

LG 42LH50YD 42 Panasonic TH-P50X10A 43 Samsung UA40B7100 44 Sony Bravia KDL-40WE5 45 Toshiba REGZA 40CV550A 46 Integra DTS-30.1 48 Panasonic Viera TH-P50G10A 50 Tivo Home Networking Package and My DVR Expander 52 Linksys NMH405 54 Yamaha TSX130 56 Pure Avanti Flow 56 Smartphone reviews

Apple iPhone 3GS Samsung HD Icon HTC Magic Nokia 5800 Xpress Music Nokia N97

59-67

HOW TO BUY

OUT OF THE BOX With Blu-ray adding value to compact convenience, one-stop surround systems still deserve a place in every home.

ome theatre in a box system have copped a bad rap, with rock bottom pricing on both yum cha and name brand offerings creating the impression of them as a cheap and nasty lastchoice for surround sound. Cinephiles will almost certainly poo-poo the notion of a home theatre in a box as the centrepiece for surround duties in the primary viewing area of their home, but these all-inone solutions can provide good sound and come packed with extra features. They’re compact, ideal for smaller living areas and limited budgets, and many are designed to complement a stylish décor. Chances are, too, that when you open some doors in that cinephile’s house you will find a home theatre in a box. It will be the system that began their home entertainment habit and is now in service in another room, or perhaps a recent purchase satisfying their need for surround in any room of the house with a TV. And that’s the appeal of these systems; they’re versatile, affordable, easy to position and setup and, most significantly,

provide an immediate and noticeable improvement to the sound from any television.

BY DEFINITION Unlike component setups that use discrete speakers that can be plugged into any audio device, home theatre in a box (HTiB) systems are, as the name suggests, all-in-one. They typically work only with their own speakers, and their own receiver, which integrates DVD or Blu-ray playback. All the necessary cables come in the box – all you need do is add a flat screen TV.

FOR & AGAINST Easy setup Compact and affordable Limited connectivity Difficult to upgrade Limited performance capabilities

OUT OF THE BOX PANASONIC SC-BT207W Panasonic’s SC-BT207W is a solid BD home theatre in a box system, providing wireless rear speakers, iPod connectivity, VieraCast for accessing YouTube video and Picasa web albums, SD/SDHC Memory Card Slot for viewing AVCHD video footage and JPEGs, and an optical input for decoding multichannel sound from a connected television. PRICE $1869 WEBSITE www.panasonic.com.au A typical HTIB is a 5.1 channel surround system, with four satellite speakers, a centre speaker and a subwoofer. Some Bluray capable packages provide additional speakers for handling the 7.1 soundtracks found on some discs, or offer them as an option. Often the sub will hold the power transformer, so you plug it into the wall and run a single cable to the receiver: this is the reverse of a component setup, where the AV receiver manages the power. Speakers also often plug into the sub, but can also connect directly to the receiver. Often the connections are proprietary, making it hard or impossible to upgrade the speakers or electronics should you want to in the future. This is one of the limitations of the typical HTiB solution, but companies such as Yamaha and Sony are assembling HTiBs from their catalogue of AV receivers, DVD/BD players and speaker systems to provide a more flexible – and more expensive – package. While the ‘instant cinema’ principal still applies, this approach often occupies more than one box, allows the connection of more audio-video sources and provides better performance. When it comes to conventional HTiB systems, however, the receiver component, for its part, will have an output to your display, ideally HDMI, but sometimes just component on cheaper packages. You’ll also find some audio-video inputs for connecting other equipment, such as a PVR or games consoles, but the number of components you can add will be limited, most often to just two.

The receiver will be combined with an optical drive that plays DVDs and CDs, with premium models adding Blu-ray playback. The optical drive in most DVD-based systems is capable of playing discs that have MP3, WAV and Divx files on them too, so you can use your system like an old-fashioned hi-fi, just for music. Sadly, Blu-ray drives support fewer disc-types than DVD drives and are slow to load DVDs and CDs – much slower than a DVD drive. Newer Blu-ray systems can play compressed audio CDs, but some still don’t. You can add a CD player to your BD-equipped HTiB, though, by connecting it via a digital input for maximum quality! You can even use your old DVD player for this, especially if it has an optical or S/PDIF output. And if your HDTV has an optical output (many newer models do) connect it to BD or DVD home theatre in a box system and enjoy surround sound from broadcast programming.

FEATURE FEST There’s so much variation in the HTiB category that it’s impossible to make a blanket declaration about what features – beyond the basic operation functions – can be considered standard. Generally, though, most DVD home theatre in a box systems will upsample DVD video to a higher resolution, usually 1080p. BD-based systems now universally support 1080p/24 for jerk-free motion from discs created from film-based sources (ie. the bulk of movies coming out of Hollywood), and the latest BD Live profile. This allows you

SAMSUNG BD1255 Samsung’s BD1255 integrates Blu-ray, TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio surround decoding, four tallboy speakers – the rear pair are wireless – and an iPod docking station with Wi-Fi networking for streaming content from a PC direct to your home theatre system over a wireless home network. The BD1250 offers all the same, but with bookshelf speakers. PRICE BD1255 $1599; BD1250 $1199 WEBSITE www.samsung.com.au

HOW TO BUY LG HB954WA LG’s HB954WA is a 5.1 Blu-ray home theatre system with 1000 watts total power output, iPod docking, Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Master Audio Essential and, on the audio side, bass boost and MP3 upscaling. PRICE $1599 WEBSITE www.lge.com.au

to connect to the internet and access additional materials related to the movie, such as interactive games and trivia. There’s also usually a USB port for playing a wide range of audio, video and picture files directly off a thumbdrive or external hard drive. Higher end packages also support iPod via a dedicated dock, allowing you to browse the Apple playlist on your TV via the system’s remote control. HTiBs with Blu-ray built-in will decode the full suite of Dolby and DTS formats when badged with high resolution ‘Dolby True HD’ and ‘DTS-HD Master Audio’ logos, meaning you won’t want for choice in the surround sound stakes. Systems wearing the DTS-HD Master Audio Essential badge decode all the DTS legacy formats, bar DTS: Neo6, which considering everything else on offer, is no great loss. Other inclusions appearing on the latest models include automatic calibration and setup features for optimising audio

SONY BDV-IT1000 A premium offering, Sony’s BDV-IT1000 sports extremely slim, full range speakers with S-AIR wireless audio transmission, 1080p DVD upscaling, BD-Live support, Bravia Sync control of compatible Sony products and the company’s S-Master digital amplifier technology. PRICE $4599 WEBSITE www.sony.com.au

performance to your room; power saving modes; CEC control for operating like-branded equipment connected via HDMI with just a single remote; SD card slots and playback of high definition home video footage from AVCHD camcorders; direct access to online properties such as YouTube, and Wi-Fi networking for sharing multimedia on the home PC with the television in the living room.

HOW MUCH? There is an enormous range of different HTiBs to choose from, at all sorts of price-points. You could grab a super-simple, supercompact unit for use in a second entertainment space, like a rumpus room, for less than $500. Or you could spend from $1000 to $5000 on a top-of-the-line unit that includes Blu-ray and an

SONY HT-SF2300 & BDP-S350 Sony’s entry-level Blu-ray HTiBs mate the HT-SF2300 speaker system and AV receiver with the standalone S350 BD player for $1529, or the step-up S550 for $1699. The receiver provides 5 x 143 watts output (285 watts from the sub), 7.1 ch Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Digital Plus Decoding, BD Live and 1080p / 24p True Cinema processing. PRICE Blu-ray Theatre2 with S350 BD player $1529; $1699 with S550 BD player WEBSITE www.sony.com.au

OUT OF THE BOX BOSE LIFESTYLE 48

PIONEER HTZLX61

Bose was making home theatre in a box systems way before the phrase was coined, and the Lifestyle 48 is its flagship offering. This provides DVD playback with 1080p upscaling, a hard drive for storing 340 hours of music and a 5.1 speaker set up with ADAPTiQ room acoustic calibration. PRICE $6999 WEBSITE www.bose.com.au

Pioneer’s HTZLX61 5.1 DVD system handles Divx, DVD-Audio, SACD, as well as your iPod. Connect a Blu-ray player with onboard decoding for DTS HD and Dolby True-HD (like Pioneer’s models) and, with a flat panel TV, you’re completely kitted up for high definition. PRICE $1999 WEBSITE www.pioneer.com.au

iPod dock, with sound that rivals component speaker packages for audio quality and power output. The bulk of HTiBs, though, exchange truly exemplary performance for style and convenience. Many use proprietary speaker technologies to create super-slim or super-small speakers. You’ll be able to hear the difference if you compare them with a big standalone speaker, but on their own, these systems provide excellent sound in their own right. You’ll also have a lot more options when it comes to style. Big blocky towers not for you? Try spherical speakers, bladelike speakers, ultra-slim pole speakers with a circular cross section.

HTIB systems are also where you’ll find wireless rear speakers. These can be extremely handy for rooms where a doorway interrupts the rear wall, or the couch doesn’t touch a wall at all, or there is no way of safely or neatly trailing cables from the receiver to the surround speakers. Note though that wireless isn’t completely wireless: these speakers still need to connect to a power source. There are units that have a plug each, but most also include a wire to connect them together, while only one speaker has a power cord.

FINAL WORD A home theatre in a box is an ideal choice for the person who wants a no-worries setup that comes, indeed, in a single box (or sometimes two!) and has a handy chart that tells you where to place each component and how to connect the system to your display. It’s home theatre, without the nerd rage! n

HOW TO BUY

green screens

The new energy labelling scheme will show us how we can watch TV and save the planet, writes Thomas Bartlett.

ome 1 October 2009, two things are going to happen to our televisions. First, the new ones in shops will sport shiny yellow labels (which “shall not be smaller than 70mm wide and 105mm long”, says the government). Second, some models of TV may disappear completely. This is due to the introduction of new Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for televisions, and a related labelling scheme. Under the ‘MEPS’ scheme, TVs that fail to achieve a certain energy efficiency will not be available for sale. This was a point of some controversy a couple of years ago since it looked like most plasma TVs would have been consigned

to oblivion, at least in this country. However time has moved on and clever engineers have applied themselves to the problem. Meeting the MEPS standard means earning at least one star on the energy rating label. Calculating that is a complicated process, and it is not something that we are yet confident of doing with complete authority. But we can venture some opinions based on the five TV models we’ve examined in the following pages, plus some others we’ve checked in the past. In short, things have changed for the better. Whether you’re concerned with saving energy dollars, or reducing carbon emissions, the new breed of Australian TVs do both in comparison to earlier models.

GREEN SCREENS To take just one example, the plasma TV we look at in the following pages scores a fairly impressive three stars under the new scheme. Yet a plasma of the same size from the same maker two years ago would have scored a negative star under this scheme!

Efficient technology, efficient settings Plasmas have become better with new technology that isn’t easily explained. But, basically, at the ‘cell’ level they manage to produce more light for less power. That could be used to make brighter TV pictures, but in today’s greener times, plasma TV companies have opted for the same brightness, and greatly reduced power consumption. For LCD TVs, the main area of energy efficient development has been with the backlight. Remember, the LCD panel doesn’t produce any light itself. It acts as a kind of coloured slideshow over the front of a white ‘backlight’. It is the backlight that consumes the bulk of the power of an LCD TV. Older LCD TVs always had the backlight running full blast whenever the TV was switched on. As it happens, improving backlight performance on LCD TVs also improves picture performance, because the weakest area of LCD performance has long been their inadequately dark blacks. Indeed, ‘dynamic’ backlights were first developed to improve this aspect of performance. Basically, these are backlights that can be turned down. When darker, black levels are deeper, of course. And power consumption is also reduced. Some TVs will automatically adjust the backlight level to match the overall brightness of the picture, thereby accidentally

“Whether you’re concerned with saving energy dollars, or reducing carbon emissions, the new breed of Australian TVs do both in comparison to earlier models” yielding some energy saving. As some of the TVs we look at in this article demonstrate, the ability to set the backlight level low has been used to give them better energy ratings on their labels (see the box for how this is measured). One TV in our review sample defaults to a ‘Standard’ picture mode with the backlight set to a lower level than is usual even for the ‘Cinema’ mode, which is designed for use in a dark room. However, the perception of picture brightness is generally a highly subjective thing, and in normal ranges, is based on relative brightness. If you start with a bright TV picture and turn it down, it will look dull for a while. But if it switches on a bit darker, it will usually look fine. Different technologies have also been employed for backlights, with latest being the LED. These offer more efficiency than the cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) traditionally used. Another more efficient technology used by at least one company is HCFL, or hot cathode fluorescent lamps.

ENERGY RATING Star Rating

The more the better. TVs with smaller screen sizes will typically rate better than larger screen TVs, and LCD better than plasma. Come November, only TVs with at least one star will be available for sale.

Energy Consumption

The lower the number the better. Multiply the figure by the kWh rate charged by your energy supplier for an estimate of annual power costs. Each kWh is roughly equal to one kilogram of CO2 emissions.

HOW TO BUY MEASUREMENTS USED IN OUR ECO TV REVIEWS The televisions reviewed on the following pages are each evaluated according to Home Entertainment’s star rating system, which assesses products for performance, features, value for money and ease of use (see p 33). To determine the energy efficiency of each, we have also measured their average power consumption in watts using the NTSC DVD test clip employed by the International and Australian 62087 TV energy consumption standard. The measurements can be found under the ‘Power Consumption’ specifications for each television. Here, the ‘Standard mode watts’ figure is the consumption in standard/normal mode (which is what all of the TVs in our sample defaulted to out of the box) and the ‘per square metre’ in the second figure is the measured power, divided by the screen area in square metres. In each case, the lower the figure, the less power used by the television.

How green is my TV? Explaining how the new Australian energy rating label is calculated is something you really do not want to know. Believe me. Well, at least it’s something you don’t want to know in any detail. If you do want the calculations, however, download a document called ‘Fact Sheet: Voluntary TV Labelling’ from the government’s enery rating website (www.energyrating.gov.au/library).

Manufacturers are pushing the green message, with some providing online calculators that allow you to work out the running cost of their televisions, as well as the carbon cost of their energy consumption.

“We suggest that you ignore the star rating, because it is the printed ‘Energy consumption’ figure that tells you what the TV consumes in absolute terms” Here I will just hit the high points. The label has two pieces of information. The most eye-catching is the set of six energy rating stars shown in the example (four more are provided as a ‘Super Efficiency Rating’ crown, should any TVs qualify in the future). More important both for your pocket, and in absolute terms, is the number labelled ‘Energy Consumption’. These are based on measurements of the relevant TV: power consumption (while operating, and in standby mode), and the screen size.

The numbers To measure power consumption, the TV is taken, as new, from its box, plugged in, and measured in as minimal a state of adjustment as possible. There’s no tuning or tweaking for better results. If a TV defaults to ‘Dynamic’ for its picture setting, slurping up several hundred watts, that’s what it gets scored on. The one change that is made is to switch off any ambient light sensors. If the TV adjusts itself according to room brightness, obtaining a consistent measurement is very difficult. Of course, for those TVs that have such a sensor switched on by default, these results will be meaningless anyway because most people will never change that setting. After the TV is warmed up, a standard test clip of real video material is shown for ten minutes. This has been determined to be representative of brightness and processing demands of the material real people watch. The amount of energy consumed is recorded. Should you want to test your own TV, just log onto the website of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) in Switzerland and you can purchase the standard, with the discs (including on Blu-ray), for a mere 200 Swiss Francs (about $230). The ‘Energy Consumption’ figure is based on the TV being watched ten hours per day, so the measured power consumption is multiplied by ten and to that is added the standby energy consumption for the other 14 hours. It is that result, multiplied by 365 to turn it into an annual amount, and divided by a thousand to turn it from watt hours into kilowatt hours, that appears as the figure on the bottom of the label. This is the actual amount of energy your TV will consume over the course of the year ... if you use it at default settings with any light sensor switched off for ten hours a day. You can multiply this figure by your power bill rates per kilowatt hour (typically 10–15 cents per kWh) to determine how much it will cost you to run. Government figures suggest that in Australia one kWh of energy consumption results in about one kilogram of carbon dioxide emissions, so you can estimate the greenhouse gases involved in running the TV.

New backlight technology has greatly reduced LCD power consumption.

The stars The star ratings rate efficiency, rather than energy use, so they take panel size into account. It isn’t proportional, though, because some elements of a TV’s power consumption are independent of screen size: the video processing, for example, or the TV tuner. So, unless you want to delve into the mathematics, the main message to take away is that the more stars, the better a TV does for a given size. For out of pocket expenses and total greenhouse gas emissions, it’s the energy rating figure that counts. From the manufacturer’s point of view, it is the stars that count. First, because these are the most visually obvious part of the label. Second, because any TV that fails to achieve at least one star fails to meet the necessary Minimum Energy Performance Standard, and so won’t be available for sale after 1 November.

What more you can do Buying a TV with a high energy rating is one way to help the planet, but what about other ways you can save energy with your next TV purchase? We will only say this once, and only say it quietly, but one thing you could do is simply not make a purchase at all! Stick with your old TV, and we suspect (figures are hard to come by) that the avoided energy expenditure in manufacturing and transporting the new TV will more than cover any benefit the lower energy usage of a new TV may offer. But you probably wouldn’t be reading this magazine if that were an appealing option – and we’re of a like mind! So, if you’re purchasing, inspect that energy rating label. We suggest that you ignore the star rating, because it is the printed ‘Energy consumption’ figure that tells you what the TV consumes in absolute terms. The stars on the label are calculated with reference to screen size. If they applied these to front projectors, a 250 watt projector with a 254cm screen would score 8.5 stars,

compared to 4.5 for a 40cm 115 watt LCD TV. Efficiency deserves a pat on the back, but your purchasing dollars deserve a low actual energy rating. Of course, a smaller screen size, all other things being equal, will use less power than a larger one. For the moment, a high quality LCD TV will normally consume less power than a plasma TV or the same size. If you’re not buying a new TV, you can reconsider how you use your current one. First, consider what picture setting you are using. With plasma TVs, or even old CRT ones or rear projection models, if you have it on ‘Dynamic’ or ‘Vivid’, the chances are it will use more power than ‘Standard’ or ‘Natural’. In some cases a little. In the case of the plasma we look at in our test comparison, some 62 percent more! With older LCD TVs with their fixed backlights, this won’t make any significant difference, but with newer ones with adjustable backlights, it can make a large difference. Something to be avoided in newer TVs is any light sensor mode. These adjust the brightness of the picture to take account of the amount of light in the room. But we’ve found that in most rooms they end up turning the TV up brighter than the standard mode, and thus use more power. You may also want to consider switching off your TV when you’re not watching it in order to save standby power. This may be worthwhile for older TVs, however we’re not so sure for new ones. All the TVs we looked in the following pages used less than one watt of power in standby mode. One watt of consumption means just 3.65kWh of the figure on the energy consumption label, 3.65 kilograms of additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and less than 60 cents addition to your annual power bill. The best way to save power with your TV is to switch it off instead of watching it. Just don’t leave it running after your favourite TV program or Blu-ray movie has finished.

HOW TO BUY

LG 42LH50YD LCD TV At the time of writing, LG didn’t have a specific ‘eco’ model in its TV line-up, so we included a premium model from its new 200Hz TruMotion range: the 42LH50YD. Despite no specific eco marketing, the remote features a prominent ‘Energy Saving’ key. This allows you to choose between five different energy saving modes, or you can leave it switched off. It basically controls the backlight level. ‘Low’ reduces power consumption by 3 percent, ‘Medium’ by 30 percent and ‘Maximum’ by 60 percent. This last was far too dark for enjoyable viewing. Another setting allows you to switch off the screen completely (reducing consumption by 80 percent), but the point of this is obscure to me. Why not just switch off the TV? The final setting was ‘Auto’. When I selected it, it increased power consumption by 30 percent. This setting unleashes the TV’s light sensor, so in my fairly well-lit office it bumped up

the backlight level from about 70 percent (the default on the ‘Standard’ picture mode) to 100 percent. This is best avoided. By default the TV’s ‘Dynamic Contrast’ in ‘Standard’ mode is set to ‘Medium’. Oddly, this had virtually no effect on the backlight level, even when the TV was displaying a full black screen. Putting it onto ‘High’ had the TV responding far better to dark scenes, reducing power consumption markedly in them. It made little difference as far as the regular test went (this is largely average in brightness), but improved picture quality and lowered consumption during dark scenes. The 200 hertz processing provided by this TV has nothing to do with eco function, but it worked about as well as other such systems, with the same picture smoothness increases, the same failure to cope with really complicated Blu-ray images, the same artificial sheen placed over movies and the same processing artefacts. Still, the picture quality was very good (once tweaked with the Dynamic Contrast setting). Thomas Bartlett

“Putting it onto ‘High’ had the TV responding far better to dark scenes, reducing power consumption markedly” 42

LG 42LH50YD Price: $2999 Warranty: 36 months Contact: LG Electronics Australia 1800 725 375 www.lge.com.au Features: Inputs: 4 x HDMI, 2 x component video, 0 x S-Video, 2 x composite video, 5 x stereo audio, 1 x D-SUB15, 1 x USB; Outputs: 1 x optical digital audio; Screen: LCD, 106.8cm, 1920 x 1080 pixels; Features: TrueMotion 200Hz, XD Engine, HD Tuner, analog tuner, USB media support (JPEG, MP3, multiple video formats); Eco features: Smart Energy Saving Plus, hard power switch Claimed power usage; standby (watts): Not stated; Not stated Energy rating: Not stated Dimensions (WHD; weight; without stand): 1053 x 658 x 91mm; 17.2kg Power consumption (standard mode watts/ watts per square metre): 146/299

PROS

Super slim panel Very good picture performance Very good energy performance Good warranty

CONS

Fairly pricey High default energy consumption for LCD

RATING Overall Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

GREEN SCREENS

PANASONIC TH-P50X10A PLASMA TV This TV uses Panasonic’s ‘neoPDP’ technology, which roughly doubles brightness for a given amount of power input … or roughly halves the power required for the same brightness. Still, this is a plasma TV – and a lower resolution 1366 x 768 pixel model at that – and these still chew more power than LCD, even though much less than earlier model plasmas. It consumed 237 watts, compared to 551 watts less than two years ago with a then current 50 inch Panasonic TV! The misleadingly named ‘Eco Mode’ picture setting should be avoided. It noticeably brightened the picture and power consumption increased by 30 percent! Consulting the manual showed that ‘Eco Mode’ doesn’t have much to do with economical or ecological operation. What it does is allow the TV to adjust itself according to ‘ambient lighting conditions’. In a dark room, the reverse probably would have happened: the brightness would have reduced, along with the power consumption. The results are too unpredictable to rely upon.

Under the Setup menu there was also a ‘Power Save’ setting which, according to the manual, “[r]educes brightness of picture to minimise power consumption”. This made no measurable difference with the standard test video, nor with static displays. However, if you are using other recent Panasonic HDMI-connected equipment, you can take advantage of useful features such as ‘Intelligent Audio Standby’, which switches off a Panasonic Blu-ray or DVD player when the input is changed to something else, or ‘Standby Power Save’ which reduces a Blu-ray player’s standby power consumption from the 5-plus watts of ‘Quick Start’ to the less than 0.5 watts of regular standby. I’m not likely to recommend this TV to readers here because of its lack of full high definition resolution – something from which a 50 inch TV really benefits – but within its limitations it does a great job on picture performance. However for ultimate power saving, LCD is clearly better. Thomas Bartlett

PANASONIC TH-P50X10A Price: $2399 Warranty: 12 months Contact: Panasonic Australia 132 600 www.panasonic.com.au Features: Inputs: 3 x HDMI, 1 x component video, 1 x S-Video, 4 x composite video, 4 x stereo audio, 1 x D-SUB15, 1 x Secure Digital; Outputs: 1 x composite video, 1 x stereo audio, 1 x optical digital audio, 1 x headphone; Screen: Plasma, 127cm, 1366 x 768 pixels; Features: NeoPDP panel, 600 Hz Sub-field Drive, HD tuner, analog Tuner, multimedia support from SD (JPEG, MPEG2, AVCHD); Eco features: NewPDP panel, Standby Power Save, Standby Power Save, Intelligent Auto Standby, hard power switch Claimed power usage; standby (watts): 240 watts (Home Mode); 0.5 Energy rating: 3.0 stars, 881kWh per year Dimensions (WHD; weight; without stand): 1218 x 769 x 105mm; 34kg Power consumption (standard mode watts/ watts per square metre): 237/343

PROS Excellent price for a large screen TV – the biggest one here, but second cheapest Great plasma TV colour

CONS

Chews more power than LCD TVs Not full high definition

RATING Overall Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

HOW TO BUY

SAMSUNG UA40B7100 LCD TV The Samsung UA40B7100 LCD TV is quite a mixture. For the most part it is a high-end TV with high-end features, including a super slim panel measuring slightly under 30mm thick and digital multimedia support via network or USB. It is highly energy efficient – scoring 5 stars according to Samsung — and this seems to be due to the use of LED backlighting, and specific tuning designed to yield a big score under the rating scheme. According to my measurements, it fits between the Toshiba and Sony as far as energy usage goes, both of which get 4.5 stars. Under the rating scheme, the measurements are conducted with the TV in its initial out-ofthe-box condition (pausing only to make any selections forced by the TV’s first start-up processes, and to switch off any ambient light sensor). This TV defaults to ‘Standard’ for the picture setting and this, oddly, had its backlight brightness set to only 5 out of 10. These are normally up around 7 or 8 by default.

Most TVs, like this one, also have a ‘Movie’ or ‘Cinema’ mode and these usually use less power than the default mode. But this TV was brighter in ‘Movie’ mode and used nearly 5 percent more power! You can save more power by turning down the backlight further, or switching ‘Energy Saving’ to one of three settings: the biggest cuts power by about 25 percent. The ‘Auto’ setting made no particular difference. Even though the backlight was only set to 5, the picture was up to Samsung’s normal high standards. I found the sharpness up a bit high, but otherwise the picture quality was brilliant, with excellent blacks. If you do find yourself with too much ambient light, it ’s nice to know that you have plenty of reserve backlighting to compete, if you don’t mind surrendering some of the energy savings. But I would also suggest you add an audio system. This TV was particularly tinny on the sound front. Thomas Bartlett

SAMSUNG UA40B7100 Price: $3899 Warranty: 12 months Contact: Samsung Electronics Australia 1300 369 600 www.samsung.com.au Features: Inputs: 4 x HDMI, 1 x component video, 0 x S-Video, 1 x composite video, 3 x stereo audio, 1 x D-SUB15, 1 x Ethernet, 2 x USB; Outputs: 1 x optical digital audio; Screen: LCD, 102cm, 1920 x 1080 pixels; Features: LED backlight, HD tuner, analog tuner, DLNA media support (JPEG, MP3, lots of video formats), 100Hz Motion Plus, slim panel, PIP; Eco features: Energy Saving mode Claimed power usage; standby (Watts): 140 watts (‘Operation’); < 0.1 Energy rating: 5.5 stars, kWh estimate not stated Dimensions (WHD; weight; without stand): 996 x 692 x 30mm; 14.8kg Power consumption (standard mode watts/ watts per square metre): 100/224

PROS Super slim panel Excellent picture performance A host of high-end multimedia features Very good energy performance

CONS Very pricey for a smallish TV

RATING Overall Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

GREEN SCREENS

SONY BRAVIA KDL-40WE5 LCD TV Sony’s Bravia KDL-40WE5 LCD TV combines a number of power saving features with a whole bunch of high-end facilities. You can plug it into your home network (or use a USB stick) and play back video, audio and picture files. It has a number of art works programmed in already so you can use it as decorative piece … although that would fly in the face of saving energy. The TV offers full high definition resolution, has four HDMI digital inputs, and both HD digital and analog TV tuners. The HD tuner is Freeview compatible, so it will support any future MPEG4 broadcasts. As an explicitly eco model, there are a host of energy saving features. There is a four-position ‘Power Savings’ option, providing ‘Off’, ‘Low’, ‘High’ and ‘Picture Off’. The first one disables the option. Using a 50 percent grey screen, the power usage was, respectively, 113, 103, 66 and 52 watts. The last has a completely black screen, and the ‘High’

setting produced such a dismal picture it would be suited only to those who prefer to wear sackcloth. However the ‘Low’ setting – the default – produced modest savings with very little effect upon the picture quality. It seemed to be equivalent to putting the backlight level to ‘6’ on the picture menu. One clever trick is the TV’s ‘Presence Sensor’. This will switch off the picture – halving power usage – if no one is present after a predetermined time (5, 30 or 60 minutes). This works by some form of motion detection, and unless you are an unnaturally still watcher of TV shows, shouldn’t accidentally cause the picture to go off. A warning message is popped up a few seconds beforehand, so you can quickly wave an arm to avoid interruption. There is also a hard-wired power switch on the side, to eliminate standby power usage without the need for power point contortions. Thomas Bartlett

SONY BRAVIA KDL-40WE5 Price: $3199 Warranty: 12 months Contact: Sony Australia Limited 1300 137 669 www.sony.com.au Features: Inputs: 4 x HDMI, 2 x component video, 1 x S-Video, 2 x composite video, 5 x stereo audio, 1 x D-SUB15, 1 x USB, 1 x Ethernet; Outputs: 1 x composite video, 1 x stereo audio, 1 x optical digital audio, 1 x headphone; Screen: LCD, 102cm, 1920 x 1080 pixels; Features: MotionFlow 100Hz, Bravia Engine 3, HD Tuner, Freeview compatible, analog tuner, DLNA media support (JPEG, MP3, LPCM, MPEG2, AVCHD), PIP; Eco features: HCFL backlight, hard power switch, Presence Sensor with auto switch-off Claimed power usage; standby (watts): 122 watts (in operation); Less than 0.2 Energy rating: 4.5 stars, 413kWh per year Dimensions (WHD; weight; without stand): 1123 x 725 x 104mm; 17.4kg Power consumption (standard mode watts/ watts per square metre): 104/233

PROS Excellent picture performance A host of high end multimedia features Good energy performance

CONS Quite pricey for a smallish TV

RATING Overall Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

HOW TO BUY

TOSHIBA REGZA 40CV550A LCD TV Although the Toshiba Regza 40CV550A LCD TV has been around for a while, it offers exceptional performance on the energy front, with a claimed 4.5 star energy rating and just 397kWh per year. Yet there are no special eco features highlighted by Toshiba in its promotional literature. Other, perhaps, than the headline ‘Brightness’ rating of 380cd/square metre. This is lower than the 500 or so usually claimed. And here we get to how it does it: it just turns things down a little. The drawback of this is that if, for some reason, you do need a super bright picture – perhaps to deal with afternoon light being cast on the TV by an unfortunately placed window – you won’t get it with this TV. But that aside, the main picture presets do a fine job, especially the default ‘Standard’ one. This was positively miserly in its consumption, drawing an average of just over 90 watts. Yet (that afternoon window aside) the colour and brightness were fine for normal use. The lower consumption ‘Movie’ mode only saved a further six watts. But there was one major performance drawback with this TV … one that the correction of which would not have any impact on power

consumption at all: the TV does not have any kind of ‘1:1’ or ‘Just’ or ‘Real’ aspect ratio setting for 1080p video inputs. These settings eliminate picture scaling completely, and just feed each pixel of the incoming signal to the respective pixel of the screen. This TV insists on applying ‘overscan’ to all signals, including full high definition ones, thereby pushing between 2–3 percent of the picture off each edge of

TOSHIBA 40CV550A Price: $1979 Warranty: 24 months Contact: Toshiba Australia 13 30 70 www.toshibaav.com.au Features: Inputs: 2 x HDMI, 1 x component video, 1 x S-Video, 2 x composite video, 3 x stereo audio, 1 x D-SUB15; Outputs: 1 x composite video, 1 x stereo audio, 1 x optical digital audio, 1 x coaxial digital audio, 1 x headphone; Screen: LCD, 102cm, 1920 x 1080 pixels; Features: MetaBrain Pro engine, HD tuner, analog Tuner, CineSpeed; Eco features: DynaLight Claimed power usage; standby (watts): 122 watts (in operation); Less than 0.2 Energy rating: 4.5 stars, 397kWh per year Dimensions (WHD; weight): 997 x 635 x 96mm; 18kg Power consumption (standard mode watts/ watts per square metre): 90/203

the screen. It also ‘sharpens’ the picture in all modes, adding a messy edge to some fine detail. Even turning the sharpness control down to the minimum didn’t completely eliminate this. Thomas Bartlett

PROS A clear winner for energy usage, both in total and per square metre Low cost Full high definition resolution

CONS No ‘1:1’ picture mode detracts from full HD performance Too much picture sharpening

RATING Overall Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

Conclusion All these TVs – including the LG, which is not specifically marketed as an eco TV – loped comfortably over the MEPs line, at least according to my meter. I calculated 3.5 stars for the LG, which puts the Panasonic in last place when it comes to energy efficiency, and the sheer size of its screen ensures that it comes in last place for overall energy usage as well.

But were it not for the less than full-HD resolution, I’d forgive all that for the plasma picture. At the other end of the scale, the clear winner on everything to do with money, and with power consumption, is the Toshiba. At just over 90 watts on my meter, it will only cost you about $50 a year to run, and, on top of that, is the cheapest to buy. I can only imagine what next year will bring. n

BOX FRESH

Integra DTR-30.1 J

ust when you think that surround sound standards have settled down, Dolby introduces yet another. Called Dolby Pro Logic IIz, it first appeared in an Onkyo receiver (Onkyo is to Integra what Toyota is to Lexus). This was rapidly followed by Integra, with its DTR-30.1 home theatre receiver.

Features But that is not all there is to this receiver, of course. It has a far more radical innovation than Dolby Pro-Logic IIz: it has recognised and implemented major changes owing to HDMI. Until now, HDMIequipped home theatre receivers have had these connections squeezed onto otherwise unchanged back panels. This receiver embraces HDMI as superseding analog connections. So it has an amazing six HDMI inputs, including one on the front panel, but only two component video inputs. It retains a full set of multichannel preamplifier outputs in case you want to upgrade your amplification, but drops analog multichannel inputs. After all, HDMI carries multichannel sound in digital format, so why not?

Dolby Pro-Logic IIz provides for a pair of front ‘height’ speakers to produce sound effects above the listener’s head.

But perhaps Integra has gone just a little too far by leaving out S-Video inputs completely. If you have a source device in your system that relies upon S-Video, then this is probably not the receiver for you. The unit will convert the other analog video inputs to HDMI, allowing you to use a single HDMI cable to connect it to your video display. The receiver also has as full a range of connections to allow integration into a home automation system as I have ever seen. Otherwise, the receiver is fairly conventional, offering seven 90 watt power amplifiers which can be configured according to your preferences (including driving Zone 2 speakers), automatic room and speaker setup using the supplied microphone and builtin test tones, and decoders for all audio standards including the new ones provided by Blu-ray.

“The receiver delivered just the type of high performance I’ve come to expect from Integra receivers. It worked smoothly and powerfully, and it also had a wealth of setup options”

INTEGRA DTR-30.1

Integra’s DTR-30.1 accomodates five HDMI devices on the rear panel, plus another from the front.

Performance The other exception to that conventionality is the Dolby Pro-Logic IIz that we have mentioned. The original Dolby Pro-Logic and Dolby Pro-Logic II were both intended to produce surround sound from two channel signals. IIx also added a centre rear channel for 5.1 signals, and likewise IIz works with both stereo and 5.1 inputs, plus 7.1 channel inputs. What it does is extract from any of these signals are sounds that it thinks would normally come from overhead, such as certain elements of room ambience, and feeds them to a pair of front ‘height’ speakers. These are supposed to be installed up high on the front wall of your listening room, slightly inside of the location of the regular front speakers. How it works out what parts of the sound should come from on high is not very clear. Dolby says that it looks for sounds that are equally present in the different channels, but that would not apply to stereo signals. Still, the real test is what it actually did. I moved my centre rear speakers to the front of the room, mounting them on the wall up high, and allowed the receiver’s automatic calibration system to configure the system for 5.1 + ‘height’ channels.

SPECIFICATIONS Category: AV receiver Price: $1695 Warranty: five years Contact: Amber Technology 1800 251 367 www.ambertech.com.au Power: 7 x 90 watts, 20Hz-20kHz, 8 ohms Inputs: 4 x composite video, 0 x S-Video, 2 x component video, 7 x analog stereo audio, 2 x optical digital audio, 2 x coaxial digital audio, 6 x HDMI, 1 x ‘Universal Port’, 1 x calibration microphone Outputs: 2 x composite video, 0 x S-Video, 1 x component video, 2 x analog stereo audio, 1 x 7.1 channel preout, 1 x HDMI, 1 x analog stereo audio for Zone 2, 1 x 6.5mm headphone Control: 1 x Ethernet, 1 x RS232C, 2 x IR in, 1 x IR out, 3 x trigger out Surround standards: Dolby Digital EX, Plus and TrueHD; DTS ES and 96/24; DTS-HD Master Audio and High Resolution; Dolby Pro Logic IIz, DTS Neo:6 Features: Dolby Pro Logic IIz ‘height’ support; Audyssey automatic calibration and audio processing; Decodes new Blu-ray audio formats; 32 bit DSP; Zone 2 capability; surround back amplifiers may be configured to bi-amplification, height or Zone 2 support; Video conversion (composite, component to HDMI); onscreen display; front panel AV input (composite video, stereo audio, HDMI); AV sync adjustment; 1080p24 video pass through Supplied accessories: remote control; calibration microphone Dimensions (WHD): 435 x 175 x 327mm Weight: 10.9kg

The first thing I can say is that the receiver delivered just the type of high performance I’ve come to expect from Integra receivers. It worked smoothly and powerfully, and it also had a wealth of setup options (with so many options, ease of use suffered just a little in the early stages). The Dolby Pro-Logic IIz processing certainly did no harm to the sound, but rarely did much good either. Switching between the DPLIIz and DPLII, only the most subtle of surround sound changes were apparent. It was mainly in the form of a greater sense of ‘air’ in music. With movies – including action scenes on Blu-ray – there was no effect at all that I could put my finger on.

Conclusion With the addition of two additional channels of power amplification, this unit supports a full 9.1 channel system (that is, you can have both the front height speakers and the centre rear speakers). I think that may be a pair of speakers too far. But don’t let that put you off. You can expect Dolby Pro-Logic IIz to appear in all future models of receivers, and you are free to use it or ignore it. The Integra DTR-30.1 is actually more interesting in the changes to accommodate the increasing presence of HDMI. Changes that are for the most part very sensible. Thomas Bartlett

PROS Good solid performance on home theatre basics Supports new high definition audio standards Dolby Pro-Logic IIz Lots of HDMI inputs

CONS No S-Video support

RATINGS Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

BOX FRESH

Panasonic Viera TH-P50G10A W

ith the departure of Pioneer from the TV game, Panasonic is now the go-to company for the best plasma TVs. Especially now, with its new ‘neoPDP’ Viera range.

Features As the name suggests, this range features a newly designed ‘plasma display panel’. This delivers a number of enhancements, including increased contrast, but primarily increased “luminous efficiency”. Panasonic says that this is double that of the 2007 models, reducing power consumption markedly, without hurting picture quality. It also has a ‘600 Hz sub field drive’. This is too complicated to explain in depth here, but I will note that plasma TVs deliver their images as an extremely rapid series of pulses. Panasonic’s new process ups the speed of these pulses for improved responsiveness and dynamic contrast control. The particular model reviewed here is the 127cm (50 inch) Viera TH-P50G10A. This features a full high definition digital

TV tuner, supplemented with an analog one, but no PIP to take advantage of the twin tuners. There are three HDMI inputs, including one on the side for convenient access. The TV has a Secure Digital card slot that you can use to display photos from your digital camera. However unlike LCD TVs, it would be unwise to use this TV as an enormous photo frame, since static images are likely to eventually produce some plasma ‘burn in’. However this TV also supports AVCHD playback from high definition SD-based camcorders, which would be welcome for those with such devices. It is provided with a desktop stand that allows a modest degree of side-to-side swivelling.

Performance One weakness of previous Panasonic plasmas has been the reflectivity of their glass panels. Basically, too reflective for my taste. The best picture in the world is no good if you can’t see it due to reflections on the glass. This model preserves the glassy, smooth look of the older models, but with a new antireflective

PANASONIC VIERA TH-P50G10A treatment that reduces those reflections significantly. The treatment hasn’t gone so far as to cause reflections to smear across a broad area of the screen, so this TV has about the best performance I’ve seen in this regard. The black levels from the TV were excellent. I used a test Blu-ray disc that features some bright and colourful images in small areas of the screen, leaving the rest fully black. This TV did a great job with these, with a lovely inky blackness in those unlit parts, while the bright section shone forth. The colour itself was superb. I still think that, good as LCD is getting, plasma colours offer that final one per cent of accuracy to nature, especially with grass greens and outback browns. This TV was simply glorious. The motion handling was variable. With plasma’s typical precision in delivering each film frame cleanly, there was never any smearing of the image, no matter how fast the football was kicked. Panasonic has included what it calls ‘Intelligent Frame Creation’, which I would have thought to be some kind of interpolation system to smooth motion. If that’s what it is, it did very little. My usual Blu-ray disc tests revealed no increase in smoothness of motion, and surprisingly, the result was the same for my test DVDs. I for one don’t mind because I prefer to see the picture provided from Blu-ray or DVD as it is, not artificially (and by definition, inaccurately) enhanced. However if you prefer the glossy look to video produced by such processes, you won’t be getting it here. As for the stated efficiency boost, I found that the TV in ‘Normal’ mode actually used just 56 percent of the power

SPECIFICATIONS Category: Plasma TV Price: $3799 Warranty: one year Contact: Panasonic Australia 132 600 www.panasonic.com.au Image: plasma; 127cm diagonal; 16:9 native aspect, 1920 x 1080 pixels; brightness not stated; 40,000:1 native contrast ratio; 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio Inputs: 4 x composite video, 1 x S-Video, 2 x component video (supporting progressive scan and HD), 1 x D-SUB15 RGB, 3 x HDMI, 4 x stereo audio, 1 SD card reader (for photo display) Outputs: 1 x composite video, 1 x analog stereo audio, 1 x optical digital, 1 x headphone Audio: two speakers, stereo, 20 watts total Features: NeoPDP panel, 600 Hz Sub-field Drive, HD digital TV tuner, analog TV tuner, 7 day EPG, photo display and AVCHD video playback from Secure Digital cards (including SDHC), 100,000 hour panel service life Supplied Accessories: remote control; manual; desktop swivel stand Dimensions (WHD): 1218 x 769 x 106mm (without stand) Weight: 32kg (without stand)

required by its 2007 predecessor, with no apparent loss of brightness or colour. That’s what gains it a two star label (out of a top-rated six) on the forthcoming TV power rating scheme.

Conclusion Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about this TV is that it sells for well under $4000, which sees it beat most of the higher quality LCD TVs in the price/performance stakes. This is truly a fine TV, and well worth considering if its size meets your needs. Thomas Bartlett

PROS Great value for money Full high definition picture Excellent colour Excellent HDTV tuner Excellent video processing

CONS Poor deinterlacing of 576i DVD material ‘Intelligent Frame Creation’ system doesn’t do much, if anything

RATINGS Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

BOX FRESH

TiVo Home Networking Package AND My DVR Expander W

hen Tivo made it’s Australian debut last July it was billed as much more than just a replacement for your VCR. With internet connectivity and an expansion slot for an external hard drive, the digital video recorder (DVR) was pitched as a media hub for the modern home. In our initial review of Tivo last year, we wrote that we liked its easy-to-use interface, twin HD tuners, free EPG (provided you have a broadband connection) and upgradeability – Freeview endorsed, it supports MEPG encoding to accommodate any transmission changed the broadcasters might make. We were critical, however, of a number of elements too. At launch, it lacked many of the features that US Tivo users enjoyed, and provided only limited networking options and hard drive recording capacity.

The My DVR Expander adds 1TB of storage for Tivo recordings.

Over time, promised the box’s backers, Channel 7’s Hybrid Television Services, new features and services would come online connecting the Tivo box to a world of entertainment, as well as your PC. Those new features were slow in coming, the first online content – a Sunrise branded weather report and trailer for other Seven shows – seemingly supplied by the network’s marketing department rather than anyone in programming. More recently, Tivo’s programming has diversified to include podcasts and video on demand, while a long-awaited Home Networking Package and expansion drive allow Tivo users to hoard shows and share them with their computer. So, one year on from launch how does the new and improved Tivo stack up?

Content offering Let’s start with the online content. Tivo is capable of delivering hundreds of internet radio stations and thousands of podcasts from around the world into your living room. What you actually get is that day’s breakfast program from each of the Nova and Vega stations around the states, plus a smattering of other shows. Ideal for those who don’t own a radio, or enjoy listening to the breakfast show without the distraction of music – which is edited out. The Blockbuster video on demand service also comes up short, the 100 title library (standard defintion video only) dwarfed by the thousands offered by BigPond Movies at the same $3.95–5.95 price. You also need to commit $35 upfront to open your movie download account. On the plus side, the 1–2GB files can be scheduled to download at 2am to take advantage of off-

TIVO HOME NETWORKING PACKAGE AND MY DVR EXPANDER peak times from your ISP. You get 14 days to start watching and 48 hours to finish once you press play. Comparisons with the wealth of content available in the US (where Tivo owners pay subscription fees) may be unfair, but Aussies are definitely getting shafted when it comes to PC connectivity. The Yanks can download Tivo Desktop for free and stream photos and music from their PC or Mac to their Tivo. For $US24.95 they can upgrade to Tivo Dekstop Plus and transfer video files between their Tivo and PC. To do any of that, Australians have to pay a whopping $199 for the Home Networking Package (it’s free with the purchase of two or more Tivos and $99 with the purchase of a single Tivo). Mac users must stump up another $179 for Roxio Toast 10 Titanium to use all the functions. Is it worth the expense? Not for the streaming alone. If you have an iPod you already have a faster, better way to enjoy music and photos in your living room – or any room. And iTunes users beware: Tivo cannot read AAC files.

The exclusive partnership prevents you sharing Tivo recordings with another DVR or PC without paying for home networking privileges. To reinforce the point, every recording you make is split between the expander and the Tivo’s internal hard drive: disconnect the two and you lose your recordings.

Conclusion Again the drive comes at a price. At $299 the expander is a $100 more expensive than a standard terabyte drive for your PC, meaning all of Tivo’s new features are either overpriced or underwhelming. The Tivo personal video recorder as a standalone device is still terrific, and its EPG is peerless in its design and ease-of-use. But tot up the price of the recorder, proprietary networking and storage and you’re paying $1200 or so for a home media solution that can be found elsewhere for $200–300 less. Stuart Whitmore

Networking and extra space

PROS

The news is better if you’re looking to jailbreak recordings from your Tivo and watch them on your PC or portable device. With Tivo Desktop Plus you can suck shows into your Documents folder and easily reformat them to view on an iPod, PSP, Nokia phones or other devices. Season Pass recordings can even be automatically transferred and reformatted, so last night’s TV is ready to copy to your iPod the next morning. You can also move videos in the other direction, setting up watch folders so files get dispatched to your living room as they’re downloaded to your PC. We could pretend that this is solely so you can watch home movies on the big screen, but with Xvid compatibility the feature is clearly designed for the BitTorret generation. Despite the copyright warnings, even the software’s user guide shows a DVD rip of Vicky Christina Barcelona being transferred. Just don’t tell Blockbuster. If you are planning to copy a whole library of ‘home videos’ from your PC, you’ll need the Western Digital My DVR Expander, a 1TB external hard drive that also increases Tivo’s recording capacity to 230 hours of HD or 460 hours of SD footage. The drive is made exclusively for use with Tivo: it won’t work with your PC and nor will a standard external hard drive work with your Tivo.

Tivo/online content Free EPG Ease of use Dual HDTV tuners Great connectivity MPEG4 future proofing Video on demand Off peak downloads My DVR Expander Increases Tivo’s storage by six times Easy to install with included eSATA cable Home Networking package Watch Tivo recordings on the go View Divx movies on TV

SPECIFICATIONS Category: PVR/Media hub device Price: Tivo $699 (wireless broadband adaptor $70) Western Digital My DVR Expander $299 Home Networking Package $199 Warranty: 12 months Contact: Tivo Australia www.tivo.com.au Tivo: recording capacity: 160GB; approx. 20 hours HDTV, 60 hours SDTV Tivo connections: Outputs – HDMI, component video, S-Video, composite video, optical audio, analog stereo RCA Inputs – Ethernet, e-SATA, aerial Tivo video output resolution: 1080i (maximum) Tivo features: twin HD tuners; automatically updated 7-day EPG; Pause and Rewind live TV, WishList, Kidzone, SeasonPass, Suggestions features; networking Western Digital My DVR Expander: 1TB capacity (230 hours of HD video or 460 hours of SD), e-SATA connection, AC power cord, installation guide Home Networking Package: enables multi-room viewing, transfer of recordings to and from PC, streaming of music and photos through Tivo, conversion of Tivo recordings for viewing on portable devices, transfer video content from PC to Tivo

Tivo Home Networking Package.

CONS Tivo/online content No standby mode on Tivo box Paucity of online content Online content SD only $35 upfront fee for video on demand account My DVR Expander Can only be used with Tivo DVR Premium price Home Networking Package Paucity of online content No AAC compatibility Expensive Mac users need additional software

RATINGS Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

BOX FRESH

“It’s a great way to be able to play the media you’ve downloaded from the Web on your big-screen lounge room TV set rather than your computer monitor” sharing media. It can, of course, still store other types of files, but it excels with media, even coming with integrated media server software (called a UPnP AV server) that allows devices such as the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and the new range of DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) television sets to grab and play media directly from it. As soon as you hook it up to your network, these devices should be able to see the Linksys, browse through any media on it and play the media over the network. The device under review here had a storage capacity of 500GB, although different capacities are available (such as the 1TB NMH410). The capacity can also be expanded by purchasing and installing a new hard disk for the NAS, since it has slots for two internal 3.5 inch hard disks but only one is used. Two USB ports and flash memory card ports also allow you to expand the storage capacity of the Linksys by adding external devices, such as CompactFlash cards, thumb drives or external hard drives.

Linksys NMH405 O

nce used almost exclusively in corporate storage systems, network attached storage (NAS) has come a long way in the past year or two. We’ve seen a number of NAS devices designed with consumers in mind, providing a convenient way to store and share media in the home. So what is a NAS? The short answer is that it’s a file server in a box. You plug the NAS into your home network, and then anybody on a computer connected to the network can copy files to the NAS or access files that are already on it. It acts like a central repository for files – and they’re perfect if you’re keen on downloading media and want to be able to easily share files with devices around the home. Which brings us to the Linksys NMH405. It’s a NAS device that has been designed specifically for the purpose of storing and

Features and performance Linksys has certainly done some impressive work customising the NMH405 for a consumer audience. While most NAS devices are technical beasts, requiring a fair understanding of networking, the Linksys does most of the hard work for you. Most people will be able to simply plug it in, run the install software and go. Files can be copied to and from the NAS using standard Windows File Sharing, so you can access it using Windows Explorer or My Computer in Windows, for example – and the installer software will set it up as a drive letter for you. By default, it also shares any media stored on it with network media players such as the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. It worked perfectly for us – after setting up the Linksys and copying a few videos over to the Videos folder, we jogged over to our Xbox 360, scrolled over to the Video Library, and there the Media Hub was in the list of available media sources. Selecting it brought up a list of the movies stored on the Linksys, and we could play any one just by selecting it. The NMH405 also incorporates an iTunes share for fans of the iTunes online media store, and technical users can also copy files to and from it using FTP (though this is not enabled by default). The installation process for the Media Hub was dead easy. You can use the supplied CD, which installs decent backup software (which automatically backs up your important files onto the NAS) as well as media software (which imports media stored on your computer’s hard disk to the Linksys). If you don’t want to use the Linksys software, you can also set it up yourself, since it uses standard

LINKSYS NMH405 DLNA AND UPNP AV If you’ve gone and bought a new TV lately, you may have run across the term DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), especially if you’ve been looking at new Samsung or Sony models. Likewise, you might have run across the term UPnP AV (universal plug and play audio visual) if you’ve tried setting up the media player on your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. So what are these things? Essentially the terms UPnP AV and DLNA are interchangeable, and they both refer to a system for playing media stored on remote devices (such as computers or network attached storage devices). For example, a DLNA TV set can be hooked up to a computer network. It can then search that network for any computers or devices that are sharing media. Once it finds one, you can browse through the shared media with the telly’s remote control, select what you want to watch and the TV set will show the movie or play the music, streaming it right from the computer to its screen. A console or media player that supports UPnP AV does something similar – it finds media shared on the network and then plays it back right on your TV set. The tricky part is sharing the media in the first place. If you have movies or music stored on your computer that you’d like to play on your console or DLNA TV set, you need to first set up software to share the media. The software you need is called protocols for file sharing. For example, it will instantly appear under ‘Network’ in Windows Explorer as soon as you plug it in. A neat LCD on the front of the NHM410 allows you to get a quick overview of the device, and if you want more information on what’s going on with the Linksys, you can access its full management interface through a Web browser. Compared to most NAS management systems, the NMH405 system is simple, logical and not at all scary. While all this is good, there is one big black mark against the Linksys – its file copy performance. Even plugged into a Gigabit Ethernet network, it still only managed to write large files at a rate 4.5MB/s, which is pretty abysmal by most standards. For contrast, you can expect to get around 30MB/s to a normal USB drive, and a Western Digital ShareSpace (a similar product to the Linksys) connected to the same network managed 14.3MB/s for the same operations. If you plan to move a lot of files to and from the Linksys, be warned.

Conclusion Linksys has done some excellent work in designing a network attached storage device that’s useful for home users and not at all scary to set up, expand and use. If you have a DLNA TV, an Xbox 360, a PlayStation 3 or other network media players, it’s a great

SPECIFICATIONS Category: Media hub Price: $699.95 Contact: Linksys Storage capacity: 500GB, with an extra slot for a 3.5 inch hard disk Networking: Gigabit Ethernet External ports: 2 USB 2.0 ports for external storage devices, one media reader that supports CF/MD/MS/SD/XD/MMC memory cards Services: Windows File Sharing (CIFS), UPnP AV/DLNA 1.5, HTTP, FTP LCD: 1 x 1.8 inch, 176 x 220, 64,000 Colors Dimensions (WDH): 198 x 111 x 168 mm Weight: 2.09 kg

a UPnP AV media server, and there’s actually one already built right into Windows Media Player. You can switch it on when you have Windows Media Player open – just go to the Library drop down menu at the top of the window (click the little arrow under the Library button), and select Media Sharing. Then check the ‘Share my media’ box. Everything in your Windows Media Player library will then be shared. You can then go to your DLNA TV, PS3, Xbox 360 or other network media player and access the shared files (though you may have to take a quick trip back to your PC to authorise the device the first time it tries to access the files on the computer). If you find the Windows Media Player media sharing server to be too awful to use (and it is pretty awful), you can also try TVersity (tversity.com) or TwonkyMedia (www.twonkymedia. com) as alternate server software. They’re much more capable than Windows Media Player, though TwonkyMedia is not a free product. A number of network attached storage devices (NASs), including products from Linksys, Western Digital and QNAP also have media sharing software built in. These devices make it very easy to share media with DLNA TVs and consoles. Often you just have to copy the media to the NAS and it will automatically be shared for you.

way to be able to play the media you’ve downloaded from the Web on your big-screen lounge room TV set rather than your computer monitor. With the supplied backup software it also serves as a useful way to back up your files as well share files with multiple computers around the home. Just plug it into your network and everybody can access the hard drive(s) in the NMH405. It’s not without a few gremlins. The security controls are very limited, we found that the management interface would have some weird freeze-ups and the file copy performance was poor at best. It’s also very expensive given the limited storage capacity on offer. But overall it’s a very useful device, an excellent way to share files and media without having to set up complicated and unwieldy software on a PC. Nathan Taylor

PROS Easy to use Excellent media service Expandable with an extra hard disk

CONS Very slow to copy files, expensive

RATINGS Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

BOX FRESH

Yamaha TSX-130 T

he TSX-130 is a little different from some of the DAB+ units we’ve been reviewing here at Home Entertainment, in that Yamaha pushes it as ‘desktop audio system’ rather than a dedicated

digital radio.

Indeed, the US version doesn’t even have a DAB+ receiver, offering vanilla FM only. The same button is used to swap between FM and digital on our edition. There’s also a CD player that supports WMA and MP3 discs, and a USB port for thumbdrives loaded with audio. You’ll need

Pure Avanti Flow T

he biggest problem with the Pure Avanti Flow as a DAB+ receiver is that it does so much more than just receive digital radio. It sits there at your bedside – or even on your AV cabinet,

given the quality of its audio – as if saying “why bother with a handful of terrestrial broadcasts when I can give you thousands of internet radio channels in a fairly intuitive interface?”

YAMAHA TSX-130 & PURE AVANTI FLOW to have any USB drive formatted with the FAT16 or FAT32 file system – if that sounds too techno and arcane, welcome to the wonderful world of USB thumbdrives! Finally, an iPod dock on top of the unit supports any Apple player with a dock connection, though if you plug in an iPhone it will switch to ‘Airplane mode’ to prevent interference – so no calls while using the TSX-130’s speakers. Otherwise, this unit is dedicated very much to clock radiostyle functionality. Front and centre is a big fat snooze button, and there are two alarms with a wide variety of settings. Audio is pumped through two 15 watt 7.5 cm drivers, though there are ports in the back of the unit as a concession to bass response. Audio is pretty good for speakers this size, though it’s disappointing that there’s no line-out plug for connection to a more beefy system – the TSX-130 is supposed to live on a desktop, bedside or benchtop. DAB+ functionality is basic, as you’d expect from a system not dedicated 100 percent to the task. The display is two-line, but only one line is given over to station name, reception quality information, etc. One of the odder things about this unit is that it’s not possible to change radio stations using the buttons on the

Like most DAB+ receivers on the market, the Avanti Flow takes the form-factor of a traditional clock radio, with a big snooze button in the middle of the control panel. But this is no mere clock radio. First up, audio quality. A pair of 7.5 cm drivers pump audio at 20 watts, while the 13cm sub adds another 35 watts to the system. This results in punchy, dynamic sound. The odd piece-of-pie shaped form factor angles the stereo speakers away from each other, helping the Avanti Flow fill the room more convincingly – though at the end of the day its soundstage can’t compete with properly placed stereo speakers. But it’s loud and beefy, and more than you’d expect from a tabletop system. Functionality is where the Avanti Flow excels, however.

“It’s loud and beefy, and more than you’d expect from a tabletop system”

“An iPod dock on top of the unit supports any Apple player with a dock connection, though if you plug in an iPhone it will switch to ‘Airplane mode’ to prevent interference”

Along with an iPod dock (no iPhone support, though), there’s FM radio and a USB input located a little awkwardly on the rear of the unit. Pure eschews an optical drive in favour of a sophisticated internet radio system called ‘The Lounge’ (thelounge.com). Sign up using your PC, tell them you radio’s serial number, and thousands of channels are yours to scroll and search through... almost endlessly. This is all via your home Wi-Fi (there’s no Ethernet port unfortunately) and, once you’ve made all the necessary wireless introductions, the Avanti Flow will also stream music stored from your PC.

BOX FRESH fascia. Only the included remote has this functionality, so make sure you keep it close at hand! The external antenna is a detachable coaxial cable, so you can connect the TSX-130 directly to a roofmounted VHF antenna or secrete the included antenna behind furniture or on a windowsill. As a pure DAB+ radio, the TSX-130 isn’t a world-beater. But it is handy having everything in one small package: digital radio, FM, iPod, USB and CD.

SPECIFICATIONS Category: Digital radio (DAB+) Warranty: one year Price: $749 Contact: Yamaha Music 1300 739 390 www.yamahamusic.com.au Tuning: DAB+, FM Speakers: 2 x 7.5 cm drivers (2 x 15 watts outputs) Outputs: none Inputs: iPod dock, USB Features: CD playback, iPod dock, bass reflex design, clock radio with snooze functions Power: mains Weight: 4 kg Dimensions: 350 x 120 x 240 mm

Somewhere in the middle of all this there’s room for a DAB+ receiver, though current channels sound pretty weedy compared to internet radio’s higher bitrates. The six-line display gives lots of info about said bitrates, signal strengths and other things of interest to DAB+ nerds, however. This is an impressive unit, though the odd shape makes it

SPECIFICATIONS Category: Digital radio (DAB+) Price: $999 Warranty: two years? Contact: Pure Australasia 03 9722 2422 www.pure.com/au Tuning: DAB/DAB+, FM, internet Speakers: 2 x 7.5 cm (20 watts output) + 13cm subwoofer (35 watts output) Outputs: 3.5mm headphone socket Inputs: iPod dock, USB, 3.5mm input for external audio source Features: iPod docking, internet radio, wireless music streaming with networked PC, clock radio with snooze functions, thelounge. com.au internet radio portal, six-line OLED display, EcoPlus Networking: Wi-Fi Power: mains

And the blond wood finish on the top? It’s real, but how well you like it depends on your decor. There’s a black version too, with a darker stain. This is a fairly expensive but high quality clock radio with lots of features. But it’s not the obvious choice for your first DAB+ player. Anthony Fordham

PROS Lots of functionality DAB+ tuner Good clock radio functions

CONS Single-line display for DAB+ No iPhone support Expensive

RATINGS Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

awkward to install in a bookcase. But when that’s the only real negative we can come up with, it should be clear: this is a new radio benchmark. Sorry, did we say radio? We mean Tabletop Digital Music System. And this is one device that actually lives up to that grand moniker. Anthony Fordham

PROS Excellent audio quality Dedicated 13cm subwoofer Handy online service for selecting internet radio channels Wireless music streaming

CONS Awkward shape No iPhone support

RATINGS Performance Features Ease of use Value for money

GEAR GUIDES FOR DIGTAL LIVES

TOUCH&GO Smartphone entertainers

MOBILE MARVELS Video, music, games, photos and internet – today’s smartphones give you all that – plus chat – but which is best at doing it all? Luke Coleman assesses five of the latest touchscreen handsets.

an you imagine if you had to lug around every digital device you own, everywhere you went? You’d have your iPod, a digital camera, portable video player, Nintendo DS, digital photo viewer, a camcorder, your computer to check emails and tap into the content riches of the web... and, of course, your mobile phone. Luckily, there’s no need to carry everything anymore now that smartphones have really come into their own. Today, a good smartphone will replace all of those devices and bundle them up into one beautiful handset. And while they may not offer the full functionality of your standalone digital camera or portable gaming device, they’re getting pretty close. When it comes to ways of stocking your smartphone larder, you are spoilt for choice too. You can transfer content from your PC via USB or microSD card, or create and store video, photos

and audio recordings using microphones and cameras built into the handset. You can then share these with others via email or post them up on a file sharing site for the whole world to see. With Wi-Fi and 3G network access you can also download or stream the whole gamut of multimedia – video clips, TV shows, internet radio stations and music – from your favourite websites and enjoy them wherever you are. You can watch YouTube while waiting for the bus, or download a games application, or buy a song from a music site and zap it to your phone, or watch select shows from Foxtel, or the network TV news. A smartphone does really put a world of entertainment in your pocket and allows you to update it on the move, but be sure to check the fine print on any plans before signing a contract with a telco. Wi-Fi hotspot and 3G data access can be expensive if you exceed your monthly quota, and the blow-out in costs will really take the fun out of your new toy.

The Contenders

So we’re looking at the cream-of-the-crop smartphones to see which best satisfies your mobile entertainment and multimedia needs while

fitting nicely in your pocket: the Apple iPhone 3GS, Samsung HD Icon, HTC Magic, Nokia 5800 Xpress Music, and Nokia N97. They’re the best phones from the best mobile-makers – but are some smartphones smarter than the others?

Connectivity, storage and screen

The first thing you’ll notice about each of these five beauties are the big, gorgeous touchscreens. The Samsung Icon HD packs the biggest – it’s slightly longer yet also a touch slimmer than that of the iPhone 3GS. The Nokia screens are both slimmer than the other phones, while the HTC Magic looks the smallest – slightly wider than the Nokia screens but not as long. While every device comes stocked with an above-average screen, the Samsung HD stands out: the 3.7 inch, 16-million colour AMOLED capacitive touchscreen is just made for watching movies. If you want to send your music and video content to a TV/ stereo, each device has somewhat similar line-out options. The iPhone requires you to purchase a line-out accessory to display stored movies on TV, as does the HTC Magic through a mini-USB connection. Both Nokias offer easy TV-out with the right cable.

While you can use a cable connection for standard definition content, the Samsung also allows you to use a DLNA connection over Wi-Fi to stream content – but of course you’ll need a DLNA TV to watch it. On the telephony side, each device comes with a Wi-Fi 802.11b/g connection for connecting to local networks. For accessing the internet via mobile networks, the iPhone 3GS, Samsung HD Icon and HTC Magic all come with a 7.2Mbps HSDPA chipset (the fastest currently available on any handset), while the Nokia N97 and 5800 come with the older 3.6Mbps chip.

“All five come with Bluetooth v2.0 connections, as well as A2DP support for connecting to speakers or stereo headsets” 61

Nokia’s N97 has 32GB storage for video, music, photos and other delights, and with a 16GB microSD card this expands to 48GB capacity. Whether you notice a difference in 3G speeds will depend on which mobile network you use, but as network speeds improve over time the two Nokias will be restricted to half the full speed of the others. All five come with Bluetooth v2.0 connections, as well as A2DP support for connecting to speakers or stereo headsets. If you’re going to be carrying your digital life in one device, it’s got to have some decent storage. The Apple iPhone is the only handset not to come with the option of expandable storage – but still weighs in with a hefty 32GB of space. The Samsung HD Icon comes with up to 16GB on-board but also has a microSDHC slot compatible with cards up to 32GB, meaning 48GB is available in total. The Nokia N97 has 32GB built-in and also boasts a microSD slot – compatible with cards up to 16GB, meaning 48GB in total. The Nokia 5800 and HTC Magic come with minimal on-device storage, so both require a microSD card – and both specify a maximum 16GB card, a bit lacking compared to their bigger rivals.

Samsung’s Icon HD can send high definition video wirelessly to a DLNA-certified television – an exceptional feature for a mobile video player.

Video players

With such beautiful big colour screens, each of these devices display video as well as any itsy bitsy portable device is able. Their capabilities vary most, however, when it comes to playing back different video formats, and on this count, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. First of all, the iPhone 3GS gives you a few different options for getting to video content – it can stream directly from YouTube (and has the best application for accessing YouTube out of all five devices), download movies and TV shows from Apple’s iTunes store direct to the device, or sync content via iTunes on your Mac or PC. While video playback is excellent on the iPhone’s bright screen, the device is limited in compatible formats – the iPhone will play MP4 and .mov videos, but if you have a collection of Divx or WMV format movies, you’ll need to convert them. Navigating

“The Samsung HD Icon really steals the show, happily playing Divx, MP4, and WMA videos, streaming from YouTube, and playing 1280 x 720p HD video too” 62

MOBILE MARVELS

Access free tunes from Nokia’s ‘Comes With Music’ catalogue for up to 18 months with the innovative 5800 Express Music.

through videos is a treat – a simple scroll through the iPod video menu gives easy access to your full library. The HTC Magic, using Google’s Android operating system, allows you to download numerous video player ‘apps’ from the Android Market (Google’s answer to the iPhone App Store). The device tested well, using a couple of different video player apps to play .MP4 files and only occasionally having trouble with a WMV file, while Divx is again not supported. Onscreen controls are straightforward enough to use, but can look overly simple – the option of new video apps on the Market is handy. Both the Nokia N97 and 5800 handle video similarly, supporting the MP4 format as well as 3GP for MMS videos (like the others). YouTube streaming is easy enough, but navigating through your movie collection is not a gratifying experience – Nokia’s Symbian operating system is looking very, very dated. The Samsung HD Icon really steals the show, happily playing Divx, MP4, and WMA videos, streaming from YouTube, and playing 1280 x 720p HD video too – really exceptional features for any mobile video player. DLNA streaming will send those movies straight to your high-def TV (if you’re lucky enough to have a DLNA certified TV), but the Icon’s huge widescreen makes on-device viewing a treat. Navigating through your video collection is easy enough, but the Icon HD uses Nokia’s Symbian operating system – so like the N97 and 5800, menus are looking quite old compared to those of rivals.

Music players

Pretty much every mobile these days comes with an MP3 player built-in, and these five are no exception. But with so many music-playing mobiles around, why do people still stick with their iPods? The answer’s simple – playing music is easy. Playing music well is not. The iPhone obviously has its own built-in iPod music player, and it’s pretty hard to top. Your music collection is displayed

“Nokia’s 5800 Xpress Music is also really innovative: it’s the first device to use Nokia’s ‘Comes With Music’ – an ‘all you can eat’ style music service” 63

MOBILE MARVELS

beautifully, either as a vertically scrollable list of albums or a sideways-flipping view called Cover Flow. It’s simple, it’s beautiful and it adds neat tricks like adjustable scrubbing speed (how fast you want to scan through a song). Everything in your iPhone has to be synced with iTunes on your computer, which won’t play WMA files – you’re stuck with MP3 or AAC file types. Nokia’s 5800 Xpress Music is also really innovative: it’s the first device to use Nokia’s ‘Comes With Music’ – an ‘all you can eat’ style music service. Anything in Nokia’s catalogue can be downloaded directly to the device or to Nokia’s PC software totally free – as long as you have a subscription to the service. The 5800 comes with a 12- or 18-month subscription in the box, and after that you’ll have to pay if you want to keep access to your music. You can also include you own music collection, by just popping it onto a microSD card or syncing with Nokia’s sync software. The N97 behaves exactly the same, giving direct access to Nokia’s music store and allowing you to buy a Comes With Music subscription. The 5800 packs a powerful inbuilt speaker (sounding better than the N97), but both again suffer from software which appears dated next to rival operating systems. The HTC Magic, annoyingly, is the only device not to come with a 3.5mm headphone jack – an unforgivable omission for music lovers. A small adaptor turns the Magic’s ExtUSB port into a headphone jack, but it’s an annoying feature for such a techy phone. As with video players, the Android Marketplace offers numerous downloadable music players that organise your albums quickly and easily. Finally the Samsung HD Icon, using basically the same operating system as the Nokia N97 and 5800, gives a simple enough view of your music library (but without the Nokia music store). It attempts to mimic the iPhone’s Cover Flow feature, but falls short – it will play all your music (meaning unlike the iPhone you can play WMA files), but lacks the bells and whistles of the others in the line-up.

A good choice of free games and apps from the Android Market boosts the appeal of the HTC Magic.

Photos, games, and apps

Not only does each of these five devices display your digital pictures, but they all pack a decent digital camera of their own. In terms of megapixels, the Samsung HD Icon packs the most punch: an 8MP camera with LED flash and auto-focus, as well as video recording in high definition 720p at 24fps. Wow. Photo viewing isn’t as great – pictures take a while to load onscreen and the image gallery is lacklustre. But megapixels ain’t everything – lenses, processors and software are important too. The Nokia N97 weighs in with a 5MP camera, LED flash and autofocus with a Carl Zeiss optics lens to boot. The video mode is easy to use, but what lets the N97 down is reviewing pictures – flicking through images is a jerky ride. The 5800, using the same software, gives a similar experience – photos capture well (they are only 3MP in size) but browsing your collection is a letdown due to the dated software. The iPhone 3GS comes with a fairly basic 3MP camera and lacks a flash, but makes up for its shortcomings with fantastic software. The video camera is equally basic but backed up by oh-so-easy to use software; videos can be edited by a simple touch-and-drag on the screen then zipped up to your YouTube account. Album viewing is a breeze, by far the best of the five. The HTC’s camera is useable, but basic at best. The Magic offers 3MP pictures with autofocus, but like the iPhone lacks a flash and takes only 15fps video.

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“…Wins for a solid “The Android Marketplace offers 32GB of storage, beautiful numerous downloadable music media player, the biggest range of apps, and its players that organise your unbeatable simplicity” albums quickly and easily” When it comes to games, nothing comes close to the iPhone – the app store is so easy to use and gives instant access to more than 50,000 top-quality free and paid-for games and other apps. The HTC Magic is catching up – the Android Market has a growing number of games that are easy to download (and many are free, too). Both the Nokia N97 and 5800 come with at least one basic inbuilt game, but both can also download a healthy range of new games from several Symbian OS websites or Nokia’s just-opened Ovi store, with more than 20,000 free and paid apps. The Nokia games are not quite as spectacular as some iPhone or Android apps, but the choice grows daily. The Samsung comes with only one game but since it also runs Symbian OS, plenty more can be downloaded from the web – it just lacks the easy ‘app store’ connectivity of the other devices.

Conclusion

Each one of these mobiles will serve all of your digital entertainment needs well. The Samsung HD Icon scores top marks for its gigantic screen, top-class camera, movie player and storage space, but has underdeveloped software and an average web browser. It’s the only device to play 720p HD video, and has excellent TV-out options with DLNA. The Nokia 5800 does well for unlimited music, simple interface, and ease-of-use, but lacks operating grunt and could use some internal storage. The Nokia N97 is tricky to get used to and, overall, feels unpolished, with clunky software that’s showing its age. However, it boasts a solid

MOBILE MARVELS TOUCH PHONE RATINGS

*Pricing indicates upfront cost of each handset and does not reflect plan pricing.

Apple iPhone 3GS Price: $1129 Connectivity and Screen Video Player Music Player Photos and Games Overall

HTC Magic

Price: $899

Connectivity and Screen Video Player Music Player Photos and Games Overall Videos taken with the iPhone 3GS can be edited by a simple touch-and-drag on the screen then zipped up to your YouTube account. 32GB of storage, a great camera and that full-QWERTY keyboard for emailing. The HTC Magic is an app-lovers delight with a growing Android Market, and syncs beautifully with your Google account contacts and calendars â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but might not have the storage space or camera you need. That leaves the iPhone 3GS. It loses marks for a comparatively lightweight camera and absence of expandable memory, but wins for a solid 32GB of storage, beautiful media player, the biggest range of apps, and its unbeatable simplicity. It is a joy to use. n

Nokia N97

Price: $1129

Connectivity and Screen Video Player Music Player Photos and Games Overall

Nokia 5800 Price: $839 (with 12 month Comes With Music subscription) Connectivity and Screen Video Player Music Player Photos and Games Overall

Samsung Icon HD

Price: TBC

Connectivity and Screen Video Player Music Player Photos and Games Overall

CEDIA CEDIA INSTALLER DIRECTORY

WANT A CUSTOM INSTALL? Make sure you use a CEDIA CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL and have peace of mind. CEDIA members specialize in the planning, design, supply, installation and concealment of automated electronic systems for the modern, intelligent home. They can install anything from multi-room audio and home cinema systems to complete home networks and sub-systems which intelligently control lighting, HVAC and even garden areas. For more information go to www.cedia.com.au

ACT Millennium Audio Visual Unit C, 66 Maryborough St. Fyshwick ACT 2609 02 6162 3330 www.mav.com.au Sound Advice Australia 21 Molonglo Mall Fyshwick ACT 2609 02 6280 8777 www.soundadvice.com.au

NSW Advanced Entertainment Systems Unit 14 12 Cecil Road Hornsby, NSW 2077 02 9477 3377 www.aesonline.com.au Andrew Parker Custom AV Installations 5 Honeysuckle Place Kellyville, NSW 2155 02 8824 7177 www.andrewparker.com.au Audio Connection 455 - 40Parramatta Road Leichhardt, NSW 2040 02 9518 3000 www.audioconnection.com.au Audio Connection (Caringbah) 381 Port Hacking Road Caringbah NSW 2229 02 9518 3000 www.audioconnection.com.au Audio Connection (Drummoyne) 137 Victoria Road Drummoyne NSW 2047 02 9561 0788 www.audioconnection.com.au Audio Solutions 1133 Botany Road, Mascot, NSW 2020 02 9317 3330 www.audiosolutions.net.au Audio Visual & Security Unlimited 5/686 New South Head Road Rose Bay, NSW 2029 02 9371 2052 www.audiovisualunlimited.com.au Audio Visual Lifestyle 86 Merewether Street Merewether NSW 2291 02 49 635304 avlifestyle@exemail.com.au Automated Innovation Unit 2, 51 Pacific Highway Bennetts Green NSW 2290 02 49 484812 www.automatedinnovation.com.au AVD Australia Pty Ltd 55 Atchison Street St Leonards NSW 2065 02 9906 2424 www.avd.com.au

Castle Integrated Media 372 B Military Road Cremorne NSW 2090 02 9953 8037 www.castleintegrated.com.au CONNEXIONS (NSW) Pty Ltd 19C Grace Ave Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 02 9453 2766 connexions@cnxns.com.au Custom Home Electronics PO Box 564 Hamilton, NSW 2303 02 4940 0409 jefferson@customhomeelectronics.com.au David Leisk Electronics 25/1 Short Street Chatswood, NSW 2067 02 9882 3733 www.davidleisk.com.au E.C.S. Services Pty Ltd 22 Forestwood Cr West Pennant Hills, NSW 2125 02 9871 4061 www.ecss.com.au EBM Systems PO Box 1865 Hornsby Westfield, NSW 1635 02 9029 9245 www.ebmsystems.com.au Electronic Environments 1 Lansdowne Parade Oatley, NSW 2223 02 9585 1233 www.electronicenvironments.com.au Eris McCarthy Home Technology PO Box 8099 Tumbi Umbi, NSW 2261 02 4389 1990 www.erismccarthy.com.au Harvey Norman Commercial Home Automation Systems 15 - 21 Atkinson Rd Taren Point, NSW 2229 02 9710 4321 www.hncommercial.com.au Home Control & Audio PO Box 1324 Sutherland NSW 2232 02 9528 0071 www.homecontrolandaudio.com.au Infra Red Entertainment & Automated Interiors Ste. 2, 11 Albany Street St Leonards, NSW 2065 02 9439 6444 www.infrared.com.au Insound Pty Ltd 108 West Street Crows Nest, NSW 2065 02 9954 9122 tex@insound.com.au

Instinct Electrical PO Box 557 Dee Why, NSW 2099 02 9938 3188 www.instinctelectrical.com.au

Sturman Electronics Pty Ltd 443 Crown Street West Wollongong, NSW 2500 02 4226 6690 www.sturmans.com.au

Intelligent Control Systems ‘ICS’ 13/3 Apollo Street Warriewood, NSW 2102 02 9999 0766 www.icsonline.net.au

Sydney HiFi ASV PO Box 150 Mascot, NSW 2020 02 9578 0118 www.sydneyhifi.com.au

IntelliStream PO Box 4018 Kotara East,NSW 2305 02 4957 8820 www.intellistream.com.au

Sydney Home Cinema Pty Ltd PO Box 6072 Narraweena NSW 2099 0413 397 256 www.sydneyhomecinema.com.au

JFK Audio Visual L3, 18/81-91 Military Road Neutral Bay NSW 2089 0414 434 535 www.jfk.com.au

TJA Communications PO Box 300 Seven Hills, NSW 2147 02 9838 4622 www.tjacom.com.au

Jory Home Systems Pty Ltd 6 Morrisey Way Rouse Hill, NSW 2155 02 9836 5132 www.joryelectric.com

The Directors Chair Sydney Tenant 6, Level 1, Rear 290 Botany Road Alexandria, NSW 2017 1300 652480 www.thedirectorschair.com.au

Len Wallis Audio 64 Burns Bay Road Lane Cove, NSW 2066 02 9427 6755 www.lenwallisaudio.com

The Silent Butler 57 Himalaya Crescent Seven Hills NSW 2147 0416 153 433 www.thesilentbutler.com.au

Life Style Store Pty Ltd Unit 8 - The Junction, 2 Windsor Road Parramatta, NSW 2150 02 9683 7222 www.lifestylestore.com.au

Tomorrows 430 New South Head Road Double Bay NSW 2028 1300 880 840 www.tomorrows.com.au

LovemyTV PO Box 3320 Bangor, NSW 2234 0439 888 113 www.lovemytv.com.au Matrix Audio Visual Services 22 Palm Street St Ives, NSW 2075 02 9440 0282 bradley@matrixaudiovisual.com.au McLeans Smarter Home Entertainment Cnr Minto & The Entrance Roads Long Jetty, NSW 2261 02 4333 3545 www.mcleans.info Neutral Bay Hi Fi 89 Spofforth Street Mosman, NSW 2088 02 9908 1285 nbhifi@bigpond.net.au New Fidelity Pty Ltd 392 Darling Street Balmain, NSW 2041 02 9818 2333 www.newfidelity.com.au Nova Comm Pty Ltd 8 / 280 New Line Road Dural, NSW 2158 02 9651 6430 www.novacomm.com.au Onetouch PO Box 3002 Balgownie, NSW 2519 0437 649634 mick@onetouch.net.au OPOC Solutions Pty Ltd 1 Campbell Avenue Normanhurst NSW 2076 02 9489 0906 www.opoc.com.au Pacific Hi Fi 62 Macquarie Stree Liverpool NSW 2170 02 9600 6655 www.pacifichifi.com.au Smart Home Solutions Unit 21 56 O’Riordan Street Alexandria, NSW 2015 02 9304 4700 www.smarthomes.com.au

Zeale Group P.O. Box 1196 Albury NSW 2640 02 6041 1484 www.zealegroup.com.au

QLD Audio Dreams Australia 17 Lillypilly Place Mooloolaba, QLD 4557 07 5444 8122 www.audiodreams.com.au Auztech Industries Pty Ltd PO Box 4368 Logenholme DC, QLD 4129 07 3806 3133 www.auztech.com.au AVTEC 12 Buckle Court Sinnamon Park QLD 4073 07 3279 6353 www.avtec.com.au Custom Install PO Box 1250, Spring Hill, QLD 4004 07 3277 9823 www.custominstall.com.au Digital Brilliance PO Box 981 Buderim QLD 4556 07 5445 2180 www.digitalbrilliance.com.au Electronic Interiors Brisbane (Formerly Toombul Music) 2 / 180 Northgate Road Northgate, QLD 4013 07 3266 2533 www.einteriors.com.au Electronic Living 14 Smallwood Place Murarrie QLD 4012 1300 764 554 www.electronicliving.com.au Fi Audio Video 3/3 Gibson Road Noosaville, QLD 4566 07 5455 6300 www.fiaudiovideo.com.au

Harvey Norman Home Automation PO Box 5935 GCMC Bundall, QLD 4217 07 5584 3128 joe.blair@au.harveynorman.com

Interior Sound and Vision PO Box 1093, Niddrie, VIC 3042 03 9336 7643 www.isvinfo.com.au

Northam Home Cinema 5 Oliver Street Northam, WA 6401 08 9622 5198 bevanautopro@westnet.com.au

Inteverge Pty Ltd PO Box 2501, Kew, VIC 3101 0409 178 076 www.inteverge.com

Surround Custom Unit 3, 83-85 Stirling Highway Nedlands, WA 6009 08 9389 7755 www.surroundsounds.com.au

TAS

Smart Systems Pty Ltd 0Church Street, Hawthorn, VIC 3122 03 9818 8006 www.smartsystems.com.au

Surround Sounds Unit 3, 83-85 Stirling Highway Nedlands, WA 6009 08 9389 6900 www.surroundsounds.com.au

Nation Technology Level 1, 2 Trotters Lane Prospect, TAS 7250 03 6343 0655 www.nationtechnology.com

Steve Bennett Hi Fi 174 Ryrie Street, Geelong, VIC 3220 03 5221 6011 www.sbhifi.com.au

Ultimation 488 Scarborough Beach Rd Osborne Park WA 6017 1 300 880 544 www.ultimation.com.au

Look & Listen 6 Ascot Street Murarrie QLD 4172 1300 765 322 www.lookandlisten.com.au

Soundtech Integrated Systems 262 York Street Launceston TAS 7250 03 6331 9900 david@soundtech.net.au

Tasman AV Pty Ltd 6 Hood St, Collingwood, VIC 3066 03 9416 2255 www.tasmanav.com.au

Vince Ross Audio World 162 Stirling Highway Nedlands, WA 6009 08 9386 8144 www.vinceross.com.au

In Sight & Sound Pty Ltd 125 Shamley Heath Road Kureelpa, QLD 4560 07 5445 7799 www.in-sight.com.au

VIC

Advanced Lifestyle Solutions Pty Ltd PO Box 360, Niddrie, VIC 3042 03 8307 5618 www.advancedlifestylesolutions.com.au

AVARNTI 1/ 325 Harborne St Osborne Park, WA 6017 08 9443 1288 www.avarnti.com

ALETRO Ltd PO Box 9680 Newmarket, Auckland +64 9 307 1238 www.aletro.com

Audio Trends 10 Argent Place Ringwood Vic 3135 03 9874 8233 www.audiotrends.com.au

Digital Interiors 319 Hay Street Subiaco, WA 6008 0417 921 223 www.digitalinteriors.com.au

Automation Associates PO Box 109722 Newmarket - Auckland +64 9 377 3778 www.aa.net.nz

Cableman Pty Ltd Level 1/1227 Glen Huntly Road Glen Huntly, VIC 3163 03 9572 8900 www.cableman.com.au

Douglas Hi Fi Enterprises Pty Ltd 401 Murray Street Perth, WA 6000 08 9322 3466 www.douglashifi.com.au

Liquid Automation P.O. Box 300753 Albany Auckland 632 +64 9 444 2440 www.liquidautomation.co.nz

Carlton Audio Visual 164 - 172 Lygon St, Carlton, VIC 3053 03 9639 2737 www.carltonaudiovisual.com.au

ECA Systems Unit 2/13 Clark Street Dunsborough WA 6281 1300 858 897 www.ecasystems.com.au

Smartline 37 Cracroft Street, Waitara, Fitzroy New Plymouth 64 6 754 6771 www.homenet.net.nz

Custom Home Theatre PO Box 963 Berwick VIC 3806 03 9796 2617 www.customhometheatre.com.au

Electronic Interiors WA 125 Burswood Road Burswood, WA 6100 08 9472 4800 www.einteriors.com.au

Encel Stereo - Richmond 84 Bridge Road, Richmond, VIC 3121 03 9428 3761 www.encelstereo com.au

Essential Cabling 1 / 6 Chullora Bend Jandakot WA 6164 08 94141961 mcairns@arach.net.au

Frankston Hi Fi 450 Nepean Highway Frankston, VIC 3199 03 9781 1111 www.frankstonhifi.com.au

Frank Prowse Hi-Fi 6-14 Glyde Street Mosman Park, WA 6012 08 9384 1362 www.frankprowsehifi.com.au

Hidden Technology P.O. Box 1084 Altona Meadows 3028 03 8685 8544 www.hiddentechnology.com.au

Hillstone Communications PO Box 599 Kalamunda, WA 6926 08 9293 3621 hillstone@westnet.com.au

howdoi.com pty ltd 6a / 4 Rocklea Drive Port Melbourne, VIC 3207 03 9646 9116 www.howdoi.com.au

Home Cinema Systems 2 / 18 Port Kembla Drive Bibra Lake WA 6163 08 9434 5556 www.homecinemasystems.com.au

IBS Audio Visual Pty Ltd 43 Dalgety Street Oakleigh VIC 3166 03 9568 2800 www.ibsav.com.au

Intelligent Home Automated Solutions 25 Wittenoom Street East Perth, WA 6004 08 9325 7775 www.intelligenthome.com.au

Impact Electrics 3 England Street Bentleigh East, VIC 3165 03 9209 8140 impactelectrics@optusnet.com.au

Light Application Pty Ltd 78 Erindale Road Balcatta WA 6021 08 9240 6644 www.lightapplication.com.au

Integrated Technologies Australia PO Box 570, Kilsyth, VIC 3137 03 9761 8700 www.integratedtechnologiesaustralia.com.au

Lynx Integrated Systems Unit 5 / 74 Kent Way Malaga WA 6090 sales@lynxis.com.au

HomeTech Systems Pty Ltd PO Box 979 Nerang QLD 4211 07 5502 0760 info@hometechsystems.com.au Home Theatrix - Bundall 56 Ashmore Road, Bundall, QLD 4127 07 5531 7244 www.hometheatrix.com.au Home Theatrix - Murarrie Unit 11 Nautilus Business Park 210 Queensport Rd Murarrie, QLD 4172 1 300 555 270 www.hometheatrix.com.au

Power Integration 9 Senden Crescent Manly West QLD 4179 1300 797 468 www.powerintegration.com.au Star Home Theatre 17 Trenton Street Kenmore, QLD 4069 07 3701 5288 www.starhometheatre.com.au Stereo Supplies Gold Coast Mail Centre PO Box 6817, Gold Coast QLD 9726 07 5531 7955 www.stereosupplies.com.au The Big Picture 14/96 Gardens Drive Willawong QLD 4110 1300 799 734 mskehan@thebigpictureav.com.au The Directors Chair Brisbane 3 / 49 Jijaws Street Sumner Park, QLD 4074 07 3376 7065 www.thedirectorschair.com.au Todds Sound & Vision 1 308 New Cleveland Road Tingalpa, QLD 4173 07 3907 7777 www.todds.com.au Videopro Level 1 1062 Ann Street Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006 07 3250 0000 www.videopro.com.au Visiontronics Unit 1/7 Endeavor Drive Kunda Park QLD 4556 1300 306 893 www.visiontronics.com.au Visual Focus 16 Clifford Street Toowoomba QLD 4350 617 4632 0402 www.visualfocus.com.au

Harvey Norman Mile End PO Box 288 Torrensville, SA 5031 08 8150 8000 www.harveynorman.com.au Sound & Vision Studio 237 Greenhill Road Dulwich, SA 5065 08 8364 4000 www.sv-studio.com.au

Sound Advice First PO Box 12-145 Christchurch 8002 +64 3 379 9416 www.soundadvicefirst.com Soundline Audio Ltd Box 2650, Christchurch 8002 +64 3 379 5695 www.soundline.co.nz Soundline Audio Ltd Capital Gateway Centre, 56 Thorndon Quay Wellington +64 4 471 0542 www.soundline.co.nz The Listening Post 657 Victoria Street Hamilton +64 7 839 0135 www.listening.co.nz Strawberry Sound 90 Falsgrove Street Christchurch +64 3 379 8477 www.strawberrysound.co.nz Strawberry Sound 21 Bath Street Dunedin +64 3 477 7742 www.strawberrysound.co.nz

DIGITAL SHACK

Electronic Interiors Annual awards showcase installs to enthral. he annual CEDIA* Electronic Lifestyle Awards announce Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best home cinemas and smart homes. Representing the pinnacle of work completed by more than 30 local and New Zealand systems integrators in the 12 months to July

2009, the pictures on these pages highlight what can be achieved when professionals design and install electronic entertainment, security, lighting, control and automation systems â&#x20AC;&#x201C; be these for residential and commercial buildings, stadiums, planes or boats.

Best Home Theatre under $50,000

Electronic Interiors (Qld)

ELECTRONIC LIFESTYLE AWARDS 2009

Best Home Theatre $50,000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;100,000

Home Theatrix (Qld)

Best Home Theatre over $100,000

Videopro (Qld)

DIGITAL SHACK

Best Commercial Project

Automated Innovation (NSW)

Best Special Project â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Domestic

Intelligent Home (WA)

ELECTRONIC LIFESTYLE AWARDS 2009

Best Integrated Home Installation under $150,000

Jory Home Systems (NSW)

Best Integrated Home Installation over $300,000

AVD Australia (NSW)

GEAR LOG STAR WARS MILLENNIUM FALCON LEGACY EDITION & FORCE FX LIGHTSABER

Force fantasy

The ultimate in geek cool, the Star Wars Millennium Falcon Legacy Edition is almost a metre long, with lightup headlights and rear blaster rockets, plus 13 sound effects, including engine boost, fly-by and cruise modes, firing canons and authentic dialogue from the movie. Lift up the cockpit or gunner station and position the Han Solo and Chewbacca figurines (supplied) ready for action, automatically open the boarding ramp, launch the mini fighter or add more figurines to your crew of galactic good-guys by removing the Falcon’s outer panels. For real collectors there’s the Force FX Lightsaber, which with weighty metal hilt, sturdy glowing blade (red for Darth Maul and blue for Anakin Skywalker) feels nothing like a toy. Adding to its realism are power-up and power-down light effects and authentic lightsaber sounds – such as idle hum and clash – digitally recorded from the movie.

PRICE: Millennium Falcon $250; Force FX Lightsaber $240 WEB: www.hasbro.com.au

YAMAHA MODUS PIANOS

Play it again, Sam

The old-time pianola has been digitally reincarnated in Yamaha’s Modus pianos. Pre-loaded with 50 preset classical and jazz numbers, the ‘voice’ of each of the four models is sampled from the company’s famed CF111S concert grand, with natural-wood keys used to replicate the feel of a genuine acoustic grand piano. The flagship 88-key Modus H11 (pictured) is available in velvet rouge, amber glow and deep brunette with three-level dynamic stereo sampling, 64-note polyphony, 10 instrument voices, three pedals (damper with half-pedal effect, sostenuto and soft), and a built-in 40 watt sound system. Connected to a network, it will stream music from the Radio Service for Piano site and, with a USB flash drive of recorded songs plugged in, you can also play along with your favourite tunes.

PRICE: $8999 to $18,999 WEB: www.yamahamusic.com.au; www.lenwallisaudio.com.au

SANDISK ULTRA BACKUP USB

Got your back

Making personal backups used to mean burning discs or tethering the PC to a hard drive, but Sandisk’s Ultra Backup USB makes the process handy and portable. Simply plug the thumbdrive into a computer’s USB2.0 port, select the files and folders you want to backup and press a button. Selected files will backup each time you press the button, and for extra protection you can add encryption and password access. Plus, the drive will store your Windows user preferences, profiles and settings as well as download and launch applications such as Skype and Firefox. It’s available in capacities up to 64GB, enough for storing 48,000 photos or 144 hours of compressed video.

PRICE: 8GB-64GB; $49–299 WEB: www.sandisk.com.au

The GadgetGuy™ presents great gear and top tech for your digital life LAVAZZA A MODA MIO EXTRA

Steaming hot Italian Espresso makers that use pre-packed capsules are compact and mess-free, allowing even the most talent-less barista to make rich a brew with a velvety crema like a pro. Lavazza’s A Moda Mio Extra is ideal for espresso drinkers and comes with a steam wand for making the occasional latte or cappuccino, while the Premium model offers a panarello attachment for enhanced milk frothing. The capsules each contain 7.5 grams of tamped Lavazza coffee, and the vacuum-sealed packaging ensures the coffee is absolutely fresh, whenever you choose to make it. Four flavours are available, and a starter kit of 32 capsules is supplied with each A Moda Mio. Sixteen-capsule replacement packs cost $12 each.

PRICE: A Moda Mio Extra $299 A Moda Mio Premium $399 WEB: www.lavazzamodomio.com.au

SAMSUNG HMX-H105

Solid state of mind

The world’s first Solid State Drive (SSD) camcorder, Samsung’s HMX-H105 has faster boot-up, playback and record speeds than hard-disk models and, with no moving parts, operates more silently, uses less power and is more robust to knocks and bumps. It records 1080p video and has a HDMI socket for viewing footage on a full HD screen, plus an HD Time Lapse recording mode that lets you record a single image at a preselected interval, and a 37mm wide angle lens with image stabilisation. It also captures 4.7 megapixel still images.

PRICE: $1199 WEB: www.sasmung.com.au

OLYMPUS PEN E-P1

Best of both worlds By eliminating the internal mirror of conventional DSLR designs, cameras using the micro four-thirds imaging system blend the size benefits of a compact with the picture taking power of interchangeable lenses. The latest example of the breed, the Olympus PEN E-P1 combines a 12.3-megapixel Live MOS Sensor and TruePic V image processing for DSLR-quality photos and non-flash shooting up to ISO 6400. It also offers Live View and 720p video recording with audio capture, Face Detection and Shadow Adjust for creating well-balanced exposures, and creative Art Filter effects that can be applied to both still and moving images.

PRICE $1399 with 14–42mm Lens; $1799 with extra 17mm lens and 17mm and optical viewfinder WEB www.olympus.com.au

EARS & EYES & THUMBS

Entertainment for wherever you are — from movie room to laptop to mobile phone, and from HDTV to podcasts, DVDs and downloads. Compiled by Max Everingham.

HIGH DEFINITION MOVIES Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection Now releasing on Blu-ray disc, what we have here is a set of the first five Star Trek full-length feature films: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home and The Final Frontier, completely remastered for all trekkies desperate to add another boxset to their collection. Resplendent in 1080p high definition, it’s not however the visuals that allow this series to hold up but the superb characterisation. Even as we laugh sometimes with, sometimes at, Shatner’s Denny Crane character in Boston Legal it’s easy to forget what a superbly subtle, familiar and endearing performance he repeatedly made in Star Trek – even if he needed his palms seriously greasing before he was willing to get past the fourth movie. Still, he soldiers on to produce the earnest whale-saving movie before directing the fifth title in the collection, The Final Frontier and paves the way for what will clearly be a second

Ghost Town

RATED

than exploiting the mine of comic potential in Pincus’ reluctant dealings with the dead. The only extra content available to the suckers – sorry, discerning customers – who buy the barren Blu-ray edition is the rather unexciting prospect of listening to Director David Koepp and the comic genius himself natter on in as commentary track. That said, Koepp proves to be as amusing as Gervais, with the first 20 minutes or so more a sit-down comedy routine as the pair speculate about baby ghosts rather than anything happening in the film. Some of it is even oddly informative, including filmmaking tips and the discovery that much of the dialogue was improvised. Sound: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD

RATED

Paramount

Dreamworks

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off & The Truman Show PG A couple of real gems hop onto the slow-moving Blu-ray bandwagon today to snuggle down on a pile of hay in the goods wagon and see if anyone moseys along to disturb their ride, in the form of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Truman Show. Unlike a lot of the shovelware on distributors’ back catalogues making it to the new HD format, these two are absolute classics and, while deserving of a second, third or umpteemth view through for you, would also make perfect family viewing to show them to your kids for the first time. For completely different reasons, both films are riotously fun and still referred to in daily life given their seminal content. If that doesn’t sound too rude. If you’re old like us, then Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a seminal movie that either reminds you of your own schooldays, including any of your pathetic but successful attempts to bunk off school by feigning unconvincing illnesses, or makes you wish you had shared Bueller’s ingenuinty and elevates him to hero status in your eyes. The HD transfer is decent, but not amazing and the sound is more of a highlight. The disc itself, however, doesn’t have any special features that are exclusive

DISTRIBUTOR

release from Paramount in the near future of the second set of five films, from The Undiscovered Country to Nemesis which of course includes the handing over of the con from Kirk to Picard along the way. Each of the discs benefits from special features including a commentary and a ‘Starfleet Academy’ piece focussing on a single element of the film (like the ominous-sounding ‘whale probe’). Of these, ‘Pavel Chekov Screen Moments’ is probably the oddest, a slightly desperate attempt to shine the spotlight on Walter Koenig’s character. Best of all, you get a bonus disc when buying the Blu-ray collection, ‘Star Trek: The Captain’s Summit’, a 70-minute discussion attended by Shatner, Stewart, Frakes and Nimoy talking about life behind the scenes during filming; no doubt a great addition for avid fans. Sound: 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio

DISTRIBUTOR

Typecast as he seems to have been in recent films as a neurotic, babbling and officious Englishman, Ricky Gervais doesn’t venture too far from type in Ghost Town but the result is far more successful than on previous outings, such as Stardust and Night at the Museum. Genuinely funny moments, quite often from other, unexpected sources than Gervais’ character Pincus, bring a refreshing turn to the ‘seeing ghosts’ concept and form a welcome relief, even for fans, from the relentless earnestness of the likes of Ghost Whisperer. The only real letdown is that the film plays too closely to the Hollywood expectations, playing too much to the inevitable meet-split-makeup rom-com formula rather

RATED

DISTRIBUTOR

Paramount

to the Blu-ray version of the film at all. This is perhaps not all that surprising, given the age of the film (nearly 23 years) and the various special editions that have preceded the movie on DVD. However, a couple of them are worth a look, including ‘The World According to Ben Stein’ – the actor, of course, who uttered the immortal line “Bueller...Bueller...Bueller?” – which is delivered in Stein’s deadpan style to great effect. And it’s true: we are all self-pitying bipeds. The Truman Show shares the same meagre apportioning of special features, with nothing new on the Blu-ray version and consequently nothing worth taking the time to watch. Fortunately, as one of the few Carrey movies where the actor displays a bit of depth and the usual ludicrous buffoonery is entirely absent, the film is worth a second, third and fourth viewing in itself. Released in 1998, a year before the first ever Big Brother, it’s also worth watching as an entertaining and prescient precursor to the disastrous (for the collective IQ of humanity) plague of reality TV we now suffer. Sound: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio

MOVIES The International MA 15+ Sony RATED

DISTRIBUTOR

A movie about the spy game that owes more to the drab, depressingly realistic TV series Spooks than more glitzy LA LA Land efforts like Mr and Mrs Smith and the Bourne films, The International starts slow, stays slow and ends in a little ‘so what’ ephemeral puff of smoke. Clive Owen and Naomi Watts take centre stage in what amounts to a conspiracy movie that really doesn’t unearth any kind of conspiracy at all, given that it’s about bankers acting in criminal fashion – d’uh! – helping to fund and finance armed conflicts around the globe and taking their cut in the process. Despite a couple of interesting moments – the ludicrous Guggenheim shootout not being one of those – the ‘intrigue’ is conspicuous by its absence, the protagonists credible but dull and the utter lack of payoff realistic but ultimately almost the antithesis of entertaining.

Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa RATED

DISTRIBUTOR

Paramount

A truly all-star cast returns to voice this second outing for the navigationally-challenged zoo crew and they should be thankful that they did. Better than the original film in every respect, Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa starts strongly, taking up where the last film left off with a bid to get back to the safety of the Manhattan zoo they call home, but crash-landing the animals in the heart of Africa instead. Their subsequent adventure is far less copycat than before, the humour is more subtle, the characterisations more original and downright funny – the hippo Moto Moto is a real treat – and the treatment is less anthropomorphic overall, mitigating the usual inferiority of Dreamworks’ efforts when compared to Pixar. The Blu-ray version has been graced with a few extras not seen on the DVD: nothing that looks very innovative, but there’s are clips dubbed ‘Filmmakers’ Commentary’, ‘The Animators’ Corner’, a ‘Trivia Track’ and a bunch of high definition versions of specific film clips.

NCIS Season 5 Collection RATED

MA 15+

DISTRIBUTOR

Paramount

If you’re a fan of the enjoyably characterised but almost cartoon exploits of NCIS, it’ll be good news that Paramount is releasing the entire fifth season of the naval crime-fighting gang’s adventures in a five-disc set. The episodes currently airing on free-to-air TV on Channel 10 are still shown in such a stupidly random manner that gathering all the shows in your own collection really makes sense. The fifth series is characterised by the team’s pursuit of the amusingly-named international arms dealer ‘The Frog’ and culminates in ‘Judgement Day’, a shattering climax for any fan of the subtle relationship dramas of the program. Special features include watching the show being filmed on location, an examination of the wardrobe considerations on set and, for all tattooed Goth devotees, a segment on transforming Pauley Perrette into improbable forensic scientist Abby.

Twittering Twaders

A news piece on Channel 9 the other day declared that SMS – texting – is now the single most popular method of keeping in touch with family and friends. Instead of, you know, actually talking to them. In fact, talking to them didn’t come close: SMS was first, then email, then phone calls. I shudder to think how many of those polled last penned a real, handwritten letter. Of course, it’s all the fault of ‘social networking’. While my personal view is that it should be termed ‘antisocial networking’, given its users’ propensity to use social sites to self-publicise, boast, crow about their lifestyles or possessions and post boring photos – stuff that, if you were in a room with that person, you’d make an excuse and leave – the millions of people who use these sites daily would clearly disagree. Among Home Entertainment types, early adopters of technology and digital entertainment, the most visited of them all by far is Twitter. But broadcasting your views or actions to the world, or ‘tweeting’, is not the only thing you can do with your Twitter account. In fact, 40 percent of Twitterers, Tweeters, or whatever they’re called uses Twitter’s search function to research for products and services and then buy them; coffee, shoes, computers, best noodle bar in town, they all benefit from a Twitter presence and customers apparently form or break loyalties to that brand depending on how their Twitter page looks. Traditional goods providers, such as Starbucks, Adidas and Armani Exchange are on Twitter, but so is everyone and his dog from the digital entertainment world: games, phones, newshounds like CNN, everyone, and you can follow them for constant updates on the goods and services they want you to have. Savvy merchants have built some genuinely useful applications on top of Twitter, including ones that can aggregate and display the best deals from retailers touting their wares on Twitter, display best fuel prices and let you send and collect money via Twitter. And what else? Well, at least a quarter of all Twitter users use the service to read news, using the links in their followers’ (or ‘followed’) posts to jump around and get the scoop, revelling in getting to the breaking news first. Just as many use Twitter to find and play games – as if they’re not ubiquitous enough these days – some advertise themselves, to get a new job, and then there’s a whole host of Tweeters who use it as a marketing and promotions tool, linking to their own brilliant observations, directing their followers to websites run by their company or simply directing them to ‘try this!’, ‘do this!’ whenever a new product is released. And you thought Twitter was just for telling the world when you’re at the airport! Attribute: Some findings discussed here are © thinktank research, 2009

EARS & EYES & THUMBS

GAMES

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Activision Xbox 360 DISTRIBUTOR PLATFORM Cultivating high hopes for the sequel of what was an entertaining and decent first game based on the films, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen again delivers what the audience expects in terms of brilliant robot transformations, huge amounts of destruction and just enough snippets from the movie to make the connection. But the gameplay is as routine as ever with the most uninspired missions imaginable, where virtually every one boils down to ‘beat the other team’s robots to a pulp’,

regardless of setup. With only two weapon types and one ‘special attack’ available for each ‘bot, this quickly becomes routine and downright boring, even if there are two separate campaigns and some quite fun multiplayer thrown in. Completing all missions in an area unlocks it for ‘free play’ but, stupidly, the game designers give you no reason whatever to return and explore – there’s nothing to find, just one, big vacuum, fairly summing up the entire gaming experience on offer here.

Prototype Activision Xbox 360

DISTRIBUTOR PLATFORM In Protoype, you’re basically a superhero – your character Alex moves quickly and fluidly around in the urban environment like a cross between Spider-Man – Alex almost flies, but not quite – and the Hulk. Happily, Protoype heaps on the rewards quickly and constantly, showering the player with a wealth of points that can be used to upgrade Alex’s abilities in terms of movement, defensive and offensive ability and his use of weapons and vehicles. The action in the game is violent, gory and relentless which feeds well into the embarrassment of riches that

is your weapons arsenal, and the powers Alex finds himself endowed with are fun and extremely satisfying to use. Combined with an entertaining further ability to ‘shapeshift’ and assume the identity of the last poor innocent you ‘consumed’, the range of powers in Prototype makes for a great first few hours; a few gameplay issues and a weak story dull the enjoyment as you progress but in terms of sheer thrill power, Prototype makes you feel like a god.

UFCTHQ2009: Undisputed Xbox 360 DISTRIBUTOR PLATFORM Several UFC-themed games have come and gone, but none have sufficiently captured the true nature of the combat. Despite the wealth of fighting styles to model and the massive variety of moves to animate and weave into tactical showdowns, no development team has been able to properly convey UFC fighting. UFC 2009 Undisputed changes the game. Animations are superbly realistic, collision detection virtually flawless and, for once, using tactics actually results in better fights. Previously, the ground game was

FuelCodemasters

Xbox 360

DISTRIBUTOR PLATFORM An ambitious largely off-road racing game that offers players thousands of virtual square miles of varied terrain, Fuel’s legitimate claim to fame, or at least world-record breaking, is that the 5560 square miles (14,400 square km) created have been officially recognised by the Guinness World Records Gamers Edition as being the largest playable environment in any console game, ever. That alone wouldn’t necessarily sell this game, but Fuel is also host to a huge array of interesting vehicles, comprising motorbikes, ATVs, buggies, cars and trucks that, crucially, exhibit quite different

not only ineffective but incredibly frustrating, resulting in far too many defeats that felt unfair. Here, the grappling, position changing and submission moves are integrated extremely well, putting the action back on a more solid footing that feels as if it’s rewarding good play. One tip though – play through the tutorial first. There’s a lot to take in, but stick with it – acquiring a few reliable moves at first and then adding more as you get the feel of it – and UFC 2009 Undisputed grows into not just the best simulation of UFC ever made, but one of the best fighting games too.

handling characteristics. The biggest choice you have to make is whether to go with a predominantly off-road or road-going vehicle, but there’s actually much more subtlety at play than that, so you’ll quickly gravitate to a handful of favourites to get through the races. Online play is awesome, especially if you manage to play with a friend (not as easy to make work as it should be) and even just tooling around in the huge environment, barrelling over rough terrain, dropping off cliffs and hammering up embankments in the free-ride mode can be a riot.

TIME WARP

This and DAT

aking digital copies of tunes from our home music collections didn’t begin with the PC and some ripping software. Nor did it start with recordable CD or Mini Disc. It began back in 1987 with DAT, a technology now all but vanished and to which the ubiquitous anti-piracy schemes found on today’s media formats can be traced. By the late 1980s, the CD was five years old and on the way to replacing the analog audio formats – LPs and cassette tape – so dominant at the time. Music buyers loved the direct track access compact disc provided and its superior playback quality, but you couldn’t record to it. For home recording from turntables and cassette and CD players, people used compact cassette tape, an analog format beset by quality limitations. Analog recording introduced noise, hiss and jitter, with copies sounding worse than the original. What’s more, subsequent copies made from that first recording degraded sound quality even further. Digital recordings, however, were an exact copy of the original soundtrack and maintained the fidelity of the source. So a consortium of companies led by Sony and Philips applied themselves to developing a digital recording media for capturing CD quality music at home. This new recording media was not optical disc – recordable CDs and home recorders appeared only in 1997 – but magnetic tape. And so DAT was born.

“DAT recorders were the first devices capable of making multi-generational master-quality copies of a compact disc using a domestic player” Smaller than an analog audio cassette, DAT media used 8mm tape to record one hour of 44kHz/16-bit stereo CD-quality sound (two hours in mono). The first recorder to hit Amercia was a pro-grade offering from Japanese company Nakamichi and cost $US11,000. Subsequent models from mainstream marques such as Sony, Panasonic and Philips were still expensive, around $US2500, and the blank tapes were priced in kind, costing $15 compared to $3 for a standard compact cassette tape. Sustained high prices were eventually to kill DAT as a consumer format, though, a situation that can be attributed directly to the commercial music recording industry. DAT recorders were the first devices capable of making multigenerational master-quality copies of a compact disc using a domestic player, a process previously possible only in the largescale commercial replication plants operated by the world’s big music labels. Spotting a potentially huge sales threat from the casual (and organised) piracy of its entire commercial catalogue – no CDs included encryption to prohibit copying – the industry heavily lobbied the US government to impose a high tax on DAT equipment, with the collected revenues intended to compensate them and, supposedly, the original artists for loss of income. Digital Rights Management (DRM) encryption now limits copying from digital music files obtained from legitimate download sites, but 30 years after DAT alerted the music industry to the consumers’ ability to make perfect digital copies of music – and destroy the market for commercial audio recordings – CDs can still be freely copied. It’s incredible that the powerful music labels did so little in so long a time frame to protect their business… just as incredible, perhaps, as the fact that the first version of a recordable CD was, indeed, a tap. Valens Quinn

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